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SHWEGYIN KAREN MISSION 


BY MRS. J. E. HARRIS 


REVISED BY HER SON, REV. E. N. HARRIS 


PUBLISHED BY THE MUNIFICENCE OF 


MRS. N. W. HARRIS 


THE ENGLEWOOD PRESS 
CHICAGO 


1907 


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Names underscored are stations of the A. B. M. U. 
The field of the Shwegyin Karen Mission is indicated by a heavy dashed line, 


History of the Shwegyin Raren Mission 


THE KAREN PEOPLE. 


One of the most interesting races of the world, religiously consid- 
ered, is that of the Karens of Burma, southeastern Asia. Tucked away 
in an obscure corner of the earth, they were nevertheless marvellously 
kept of God through many generations for the reception of the gospel, 
and not only so, but as inseriptions on rocks and on brick tablets were 
in the providence of God hidden away for thousands of years to be un- 
earthed in these recent days for the confirmation of the Scripture, so 
it would seem these people were hidden away from the observation of 
men to be brought forth within comparatively recent times as a blessed 
confirmation of the faith of God’s children. 

Whence the Karens came, it is impossible to say with certainty, 
but it is inferred from their traditions that they must have left the 
early cradle of the human race many centuries ago, and, following 
along the northern slopes of the Himalaya Mountains, or crossing the 
plains of Thibet, have reached their present habitat by way of west- 
ern China. These traditions are very vague, but they tell of passing 
over ‘‘rivers of sand,’’ which may refer to the desert of Gobi. Cer- 
tain it is that at the present time, or more especially at the time when 
they were first brought to the knowledge of the missionaries, they 
occupied for the most part the lower ranges in Burma and Siam of 
those spurs or off-shoots of the Himalayas which find their ultimate 
termini in the partly submerged mountain islands of the Malayan 
Archipelago. The Muhsoes, Kwes, Kaws and Lahus are closely allied 
races which extend up into the mountainous regions of western China. 
These peoples have a curious tradition to the effect that when they 
were on their migrations from the northern country there were ninety- 
nine families or tribes in all, but that they stopped to make their dinner 
of snails, which it is said can never be cooked soft. Thirty-three famil- 
ies, including the Karens, boiled their snails for a time, and finding 
that they were not soft, ate them as they were and hurried on, while 
the sixty-six other families waiting to cook their snails soft were left 
behind to this day. 

That which particularly distinguishes the Karens and gives them 
their peculiar interest is their possession of traditions regarding the 
creation and fall which very closely resemble the account given in the 


Seripture. A translation of the prose form ‘of these traditions as it 
was reduced to writing and published in the Karen language soon after 
the Karens were brought to the knowledge of civilized people, follows: 


KAREN TRADITION OF THE CREATION AND FALL. 


‘‘God ereated heaven and earth.’’ 

‘¢ Having created heaven and earth, He created the sun, He cre- 
ated the moon, He created the stars.”’ 

‘¢ Having created the sun, the moon and the stars, He created 
man. And of what did He create man? He created man from the 
earth.”’ 

‘* Having created man, He created woman. How did He create 
woman? He took a rib out of the man, and created a woman.’’ 

‘‘ Having created woman, He created life. How did He create 
life? Father God said, ‘IT love my son and daughter; I will give them 
my great life.’ He took a little piece of His life, breathed into the 
nostrils of the two persons, and they came to life, and were real human 
beings.’’ 

‘‘Having created man, He created food and drink. He created 
rice, He created water, He created fire, He created cows, He created 
elephants, He created birds.’’ 

‘‘Having created animals, Father God said, ‘My son and daughter, 
your father will make and give you a garden. In the garden are 
seven different kinds of trees, bearing seven different kinds of fruit. 
Among the seven one tree is not good to eat. Eat not of its fruit. 
Tf vou eat, you will become old, you will die. Hat it not. All I have 
created I give to you. Hat and drink to the full. Once in seven days 
IT will visit you. All I have commanded you observe and do. For- 
get me not. Pray to me every morning and night.’ ”’ 

‘‘Afterwards Satan came and said, ‘Why are you here?’ ‘Our 
Father God put us here,’ they said. ‘What do you eat here,’ Satan 
inquired. ‘Our Father God created food and drink for us; food with- 
out end.’ Satan said, ‘Show me your food.’ And they went with 
Satan following behind them, to show him. On arriving at the 
garden, they showed him the fruits, saying, ‘This is sweet, this 
is sour, this is bitter, this is astringent, this is savory, this is fiery; 
but this tree, we know not whether it be sour or sweet. Our Father 
God said to us, ‘‘Eat not the fruit of this tree; if you eat it, vou will 
die.”? We eat it not, and do not know whether it be sour or sweet.’ 
‘Not so, my children,’ Satan replied, ‘The heart of your Father God is 
not with you. This is the richest and sweetest. It is richer than the 


others, sweeter than the others, and not merely richer and sweeter, 
but if you eat it you will possess miraculous powers. You will be able 
to ascend into heaven, and descend into the earth. You will be able 
to fly. The heart of your God is not with you. This desirable thing 
He has not given you. My heart is not like the heart of your God. 
He is not honest. He is envious. I am honest. I am not envious. I 
love you and tell you the whole. Your Father God does not love you. 
He did not tell you the whole. However, if you do not believe me, 
do not eat it. But if each one will taste a single fruit, then you will 
know.’ The man replied, ‘Our Father God said to us, ‘‘Eat not the 
fruit of this tree,’ and we will not eat it.” Thus saying, he rose up and 
went away.’’ 

‘‘But the woman listened to Satan, and being rather pleased with 
what he said, remained. After Satan had continued coaxing her for 
a long time, she wavered and asked him, ‘If we eat, shall we indeed 
be able to fly?’ ‘My daughter,’ Satan replied, ‘I seek to persuade 
you because I love you.’ The woman took one of the fruits and ate. And 
Satan laughing said, ‘My daughter listens to me very well. Now go, 
give the fruit to your husband, and say to him, ‘‘I have eaten the fruit. 
It is exceedingly rich.’’ If he does not eat, deceive him, that he may 
eat. Otherwise, if you die, you will die alone, or, if you become deified, 
you will be deified alone.’ The woman doing as Satan told her, 
went and coaxed her husband, till she won him over to her own mind, 
and he took the fruit from the hand of his wife and ate. When he had 
eaten, she went to Satan and said, ‘My husband has eaten the fruit.’ 
On hearing that he laughed exceedingly and said, ‘Now you have lis- 
tened to me very well indeed, my son and daughter.’ ”’ 

‘‘On the morning of the day after they had eaten, God visited them. 
But they did not follow Him singing praises, as they had been wont 
to do. He approached them and said, ‘Why have you eaten the fruit 
of the tree I commanded you not to eat?’ They did not dare to reply. 
And God cursed them. ‘Now you have not observed what I com- 
manded you,’ He said; ‘The fruit that is not good to eat, I told you 
not to eat, but you have not listened and have eaten. Therefore you 
shall become old, you shall get sick, and you shall die.’ ”’ 

How did the Karens come by such traditions? No one can say. 
It is of course possible that they derived them from the Nestorian 
Christians at the same time that the gospel was carried by them into 
China. But a serious objection to this theory is that the Karens have 
no knowledge whatever of Christ. A favorite view entertained by 
many of the early missionaries was that the Karens belonged to the 


lost tribes of Israel. This opinion seems to be not so commonly enter- 
tained at the present day, and yet there is much to favor it. The 
Karen name for God, Y’wah, is very hke Yahweh which scholars sup- 
pose to have been the ancient Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah. The 
Karen language has several sounds which were common to the Semitic 
languages, but do not appear to be in use except in a limited degree 
among the other races of eastern and southeastern Asia. The Karens 
know nothing of circumcision, but they have certain customs which 
remind one of certain of the Mosaic institutions, notably the passover. 
On the other hand, though some of the early missionaries thought 
they could discern a Jewish caste in the Karen physiognomy, their 
physical features seem distinctly Mongolian, and their language, al- 
though it possesses the Semitic sounds mentioned above, is yet of the 
Mongolian tonal order. 

A very singular circumstance in connection with the Karen tradi- 
tions is that they seem to contain no distinct and clear reference to 
the flood, accounts of which are so common among most primitive 
races of the earth. On account of this peculiarity of Karen tradition 
the theory has sometimes been broached that the Karens may have 
forsaken the cradle of the human race even before the flood. This 
position would perhaps be tenable if, as some affirm, the Scriptures do 
not assert the entire universality of the flood, but only that it was co- 
extensive with the then known world. 

But whatever view may be entertained of the origin of the Karen 
traditions of the creation and fall, they certainly seem to have been 
derived originally from the same source as the account given in the 
Seripture, if not from the Scripture itself, and they are no doubt of 
great antiquity. Their preservation in so great purity, by mere word 
of mouth—for the Karens had no literature when the missionaries 
found them—is certainly most extraordinary, and if future investiga- 
tion should ever prove their pre-Christian origin, they would afford a 
most interesting and unexpected confirmation of the word of Seripture. 

What makes these traditions especially valuable and interesting 
in view of the present theme, however, is the knowledge of the true God 
which they have kept alive among the people. It will be perceived at 
once what an immense advantage is given to the missionary in preach- 
ing to these Karens. Let him go among the Burmans or any other of 
the races of eastern and southeastern Asia and he will have no little 
difficulty in selecting from their vocabulary a word which will ade- 
quately convey to them the idea of God. But let him go among these 
Karens and use their word K’sah Y’wah, and at once they understand 


the very same God whom he worships, the God who created the hea- 
vens and the earth, the God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and 
omnipresent. 

But let it not be supposed that the Karens, having this knowledge 
of God, had no need of the gospel. Although they knew of God, they 
did not worship Him. The tradition translated above goes on 
to state that after the fall one of the children of that first pair was 
taken ill, and the parents said to themselves, ‘‘What shall we do? God 
has forsaken us. We must betake ourselves to Satan again.’’ So 
they went to Satan, and asked him what they should do. ‘‘ Well,’’ he 
said, “‘you must get a pig.’’ So they got a pig, and Satan taught 
them certain ceremonies that they must go through with. And they 
went through with these ceremonies, and surely enough the child re- 
covered. But after a few days another child was taken ill, and so 
they went to Satan again, and asked him what they should do. 
‘“Well,’’ said he, ‘‘did you get a pig and go through with the cere- 
monies I taught you?’’ ‘‘Oh, yes,’’ they said, ‘‘we have done all that 
and still our child is not getting any better, but is rather growing 
worse.’’ ‘‘Well, then,’’ said Satan, ‘‘you must get a fowl.’’ So they 
eaught a fowl, and Satan taught them how to proceed in order to 
divine the omens from the bones of the fowl. And they did just as 
Satan told them to do, but instead of getting better their child con- 
tinued to grow worse and finally died. So they went to Satan again, 
and said, ‘‘Here, what do you mean? Our child was taken ill, and we 
got a pig, and went through with the ceremonies you taught us, and 
when that did not suffice, we got a fowl, and did just as you told us to 
do; but instead of getting any better our child continued to grow 
worse. In fact it died.’’ ‘‘Oh, well,’’ said Satan, ‘‘whenever any- 
one of you is taken ill, you must get a pig and go through with the 
ceremonies I taught you, and if that does not suffice, you must get a 
fowl, and do just as I told you to do, and *’ here Satan used a 
play upon words which made it possible to understand his meaning in 
either one of two ways; that if the omens proved favorable, the per- 
son would live, and if unfavorable the person would die, or, what was 
an absolutely true, but also an utterly heartless thing to say, that ‘‘if 
‘he is to live, he will live, and if he is to die, he will die.’’ And, by a 
strange perversity of human nature, yet not more strange than is to 
be seen every day among more favored peoples, the Karens keep up 
these practices which were taught them by Satan, to this day. 

But not only were the Karens marvellously kept of God through 
many generations for the reception of the gospel, but they were also 


marvellously prepared of God for the reception of the gospel. For 
not only did they have these traditions of the creation and fall handed 
down to them by word of mouth through many generations, but proph- 
ets arose among them from time to time. And so remarkable were 
the messages which these prophets brought to their people that it seems 
not irreverent to suppose that they may have been truly inspired of 
God. For even in the Old Testament times those who were God’s 
spokesmen and truly represented Him to the world were not confined 
to Abraham and his descendants, but outside this chosen people there 
were those, like Melchisedek and Jethro, who were truly moved of the 
divine spirit. And as these prophets arose from time to time they 
sought to encourage their people—for it should be borne in mind that 
the Karens were an exceedingly oppressed and down-trodden race— 
and they said, ‘‘Children and grandchildren, God will yet save the 
Karen nation. He will yet bring deliverance to the Karen people.’’ 
And then some of them went on to say how this deliverance was to 
come. ‘‘Our younger brother, the white foreigner, will come to us 
from beyond the setting sun, and will bring us a golden book, which 
will teach us the way to happiness and heaven.’’ And some of them 
went on to describe the appearance of the white foreigner—and that 
before they had ever seen a white man—and they said, ‘‘Our younger 
brother, the white foreigner, when he comes to us, will be clothed in 
garments of shining black and shining white.’’ And when it is re- 
membered that the Karens never wear black in their garments and that 
although they do wear white it could never by any possibility be 
described as being a shining white, but is always a very dingy white, 
the appropriateness of the language becomes evident. And some of 
them went on to say that this younger brother, the white foreigner, 
would come wearing a hat like a snail’s shell, and to this day the 
Karen will occasionally call the attention of the missionary to the 
shape of the hats which are worn by white people in that country, 
made of pith and cork, exceedingly hght and affording an admirable 
protection against the sun, and with their inverted-chopping-bowl ap- 
pearance bearing indeed a certain resemblance to a snail’s shell. 

And thus it came about that when the missionaries found these 
people, they found them a people standing on the tip-toe of expecta- 
tion, as it were, watching eagerly for their coming. 


BEGINNINGS AT SHWEGYIN. 


Straight across the northern part of Asia stretch the vast plains 
of Siberia. Across the central portion rise the lofty ranges of the 


Himalaya Mountains. In the south central portion jutting into the 
Indian Ocean les the peninsula of Hindustan. To the east of the 
Peninsula of Hindustan lies the Bay of Bengal, and to the east of that 
again lies Burma, a country about as large as the New England states 
with the addition of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Mary- 
land, having a population of about 12,000,000. It would perhaps be 
difficult to find anywhere on the face of the earth a more polyglot 
people than are the inhabitants of this country, for the Government 
census recognizes no fewer than sixty-six races, each having its own 
peculiar language or dialect. Chief among these races in point of 
numerical importance are the Burmans themselves, next the Talaings, 
and after them the Shans. The Karens come fourth, numbering with 
their various tribes about 750,000 in Burma. How many there are 
altogether it is impossible to say even approximately, but if the Karens 
of Burma and of Northern Siam, and the allied races in both of these 
countries and in China be included, the aggregate would certainly 
amount to several millions. 


Southern Burma, in which the missions to the Karens are located, 
is divided by three parallel ranges of mountains running north and 
south. Between the first and second of these, counting from the west, 
flows the Irrawaddy River, and between the second and third the Sit- 
tang River. To the east of the third range runs the Salween River, 
which along part of its course forms the boundary between Burma and 
Siam. On the Sittang River about seventy-five miles from its mouth 
at a point where a little mountain stream joins it on the east hes the 
town of Shwegyin (pronounced Shway-jin’). It contains five or six 
thousand inhabitants, mostly Burmans. The most conspicuous build- 
ings are idol temples, monasteries, and pagodas—for the Burmans are 
Buddhists. The houses of the natives are for the most part very 
simple structures made chiefly of bamboo and covered with thatch. 
A few comfortable buildings are occupied by the Government officers, 
English and native. The scenery about the town is varied and pleas- 
ing. Indeed, it is one of the beauty spots of Burma. On the west 
the plain stretches far away into the distance, while on the east rises 
a semi-circle of high and broken mountain ranges. The country in 
distinction from the town is commonly called the jungle, and here it 
is that the Karens for the most part live, in scattered villages, gaining 
their livelihood by the cultivation of the soil. The nearest mission 
stations are Toungoo, about seventy-five miles to the north, and 
Rangoon, about one hundred miles to the southwest. Previous to the 
last half of the nineteenth century Shwegyin and Toungoo, with all the 


country lying north in what was known as Burma Proper, was in a 
state of deep moral and spiritual darkness. Searcely a ray of gospel 
light had penetrated that region. No knee had bowed except in hom- 
age to false gods, and the people were held in the terrors of gross 
superstition. But the time had come for deliverance. For after the 
Anglo-Burmese war of 1852 Shwegyin and Toungoo were included in 
the territory ceded to the English, and the country was then opened 
to the ‘‘feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.’’ 

In 1853 Rev. Norman Harris was appointed by the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union to open a new mission station at Shwegyin. He 
had already labored seven years among the Karens of Maulmein, had 
acquired their language, and from his knowledge of native character 
and experience in the work, was prepared to enter upon his duties in 
this new field with high hopes of success. As he was the first and, for 
over thirty years, almost the only laborer in this mission, it is proper 
to give here some account of his early life, in order that the character 
and moulding of a mind destined in the future to so great and inter- 
esting a work may be the better understood. 

Mr. Harris was born in Becket, Berkshire County, Mass., Febru- 
ary 19, 1813. His father was a farmer of moderate means. Neither 
of his parents was a professor of religion, and they seldom went to 
chureh. At the age of seventeen his attention was directed to the 
subject of his soul’s salvation. <A neighbor’s child, when lying at the 
point of death, put to him the searching question, ‘‘Norman, do vou 
love my Jesus?’’ It was an arrow of conviction that pierced to his in- 
most soul, and in view of his helplessness and sin he east himself on 
the merey of the all-atoning Saviour. He then made a consecration of 
his whole life and being to the work of saving others. He became 
exceedingly anxious for the conversion of his father’s family, and often 
made efforts, which were at first fruitless, to erect a family altar. 
For a long time he was obliged to make the barn his bower of prayer, 
and during the cold winter months he used daily to resort thither. 
This finally touched the heart of his father, and he was allowed to offer 
up prayer to God by the fireside and with the family. His desire was 
in time gratified by seeing his brothers and sisters, seven in number, 
brought to Christ, and before the death of his father and mother he 
had reason to believe that they too were cherishing a hope of eternal 
hfe. Although exceedingly diffident, his anxiety for the salvation of 
his friends and neighbors also was so great that he conducted stated 
evening services in the neighborhood, which was remote from any 
other place of worship. It was with a faltering tongue that he spoke, 


REV. NORMAN HARRIS 


for Mr. Harris was never an eloquent man in the ordinary acceptance 
of the term; and often men of longer experience and readier powers 
of expression had to help out his imperfect utterance with their testi- 
monies—it is said that frequently when the hesitating boy could think 
of nothing to say, Deacon Joseph Wadsworth, who later became his 
father-in-law, would take up the thought and carry it on—but the 
blessing of the Lord attended these humble efforts, and he saw many 
respond to his earnest invitation to come to Jesus. 

From the very first Mr. Harris had a burning desire to tell the — 
heathen of a Saviour’s love, and some time after his conversion he 
listened to an address on the subject of missions which stirred his very 
soul. The condition of the heathen without a knowledge of the eter- 
nal God was set forth in a clear and pointed manner. On the way home, 
he knelt down in a secluded place behind a stone wall, and made a new 
consecration of himself, his life, his all, if it should be the Master’s 
will, to the work of telling the heathen the story of redeeming love. 
He longed to be among them, and supposed that, once there, he could 
tell them in his own language the things that were nearest and dearest 
to his heart. The language of Canaan was so delightful to him, he 
thought all the world must certainly understand it. 

Not long after this, he went to the pastor of the Baptist church, 
and made known his wish to unite with the children of God, and his 
burning desire to carry the gospel to the heathen. This godly man, 
Rev. John Wilder, gave him salutary advice, showed him the necessity 
of acquiring an education should he become a missionary, and told him 
moreover, to his great surprise, that he would need to learn the lan- 
guage of the people among whom he labored. He also lent him for 
his instruction the life of Mrs. Ann H. Judson. This book he took 
home, deposited it safely in the barn so that his parents might not see 
it, and there he carefully and prayerfully perused its contents during 
his leisure moments. His desire to go to the heathen grew more and 
more intense, and no sacrifice seemed too great, that he might accom- 
plish this object. 

His parents were unalterably opposed to any such step, and stead- 
fastly refused to do anything to assist him in this great undertaking. 
His father demanded his services and all his earnings until he was 
twenty-one years of age. After that he labored faithfully in what- 
ever his hands could find to do that he might secure the 
means to acquire an education. And in the fall of 1836 he 
went to Madison (now Colgate) University, at Hamilton, N. Y., 
a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles from his home. 


Most of this distance he traversed on foot so that he might save 
the means so carefully laid aside for other more necessary expenses. 
During his course of study, which lasted eight vears, he labored morn- 
ing and evening to defray the cost of his board, and rang the school 
bell to pay for his tuition. As chapel exercises were then held at five 
o’clock in the morning, and he never failed of being punctual, it was 
a common remark among his fellow students that he must have slept 
with his foot in the bell rope. He received no help from any eduea- 
tional society or from any other source. Indeed, his independence 
was so great that he would probably have spurned any offer in that 
direction. By strict economy and faithful labor he graduated from 
his whole course of study free from debt and in possession of a good 
library. On the evening of the same day he was married to Miss 
Olive Celina Wadsworth, who was also from Becket, Mass. 

In October, 1844, Mr. Harris was appointed a missionary to the 
Karens of Burma, but scarcity of funds detained him in this country 
until July, 1846. He then joyfully set sail with his wife and young 
child for his long anticipated field of labor among the heathen. In 
the same ship was Dr. Judson, who with his wife was returning to 
Burma after his first and only furlough in this country. After a voy- 
age of about five months, the little party arrived at Amherst, whence 
Mr. and Mrs. Harris proceeded to Maulmein, where they labored sue- 
cessfully for seven years. 

It was.in August, 1853, that Mr. and Mrs. Harris with their four 
children left Maulmein in a small Burmese boat on their perilous and 
almost unexplored voyage to Shwegyin, their future field of labor. 
The journey lasted three weary weeks, and the close confinement in the 
little boat, with the necessity of using the impure water of the river, 
told sadly on the health of the lone voyagers, especially that of Mrs. 
Harris. It was late one Saturday evening when the keel of the boat 
touched the shore at the foot of the idolatrous town which was to be 
their future home. No kind friend stood on the bank of the river to 
give them a hearty welcome. They must remain in the uncomfortable 
boat over the Sabbath and until they could find shelter from the rain 
and tropical sun. So far as they knew, the name of God had never 
been spoken in all this region, and no words of praise or prayer had 
ever ascended to His high and holy altar. A few Christian Karens 
had come with them from Maulmein to assist them in their labors of 
love for this people. The next morning, being the Lord’s Day, the 
little party went on shore, and under an old deserted roof worshipped 
the one eternal God. The missionary used as his text those wonderful 


words: ‘‘Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world.’’ And He who said, ‘‘Before they call, I will answer,’’ was 
verifying His promise, for a heathen Karen walking on the bank of the 
river on his way to town, was attracted by the strange sight and sound. 
He placed himself in a position to hear without being observed. He 
had never seen a white face before, and had never heard a foreigner 
speak in his own peculiar language, but he was well acquainted with 
the tradition of his ancestors and the expectation that their younger 
brother, the white foreigner, would come from beyond the setting sun 
and bring to them the golden book. He had become tired of waiting 
for this book, was dissatisfied with the religion of his own people which 
had no object of worship, and had adopted that of the Buddhists. 
He had been a faithful worshipper at the shrine of Guatama, going 
early in the morning long before the other worshippers, but nothing 
had yet satisfied in any way the longing of his soul. In the missionary 
he recognized his younger brother, and in the Bible the long expected 
treasure which should guide them back to happiness and heaven. He 
heard the truth, believed it at once, found it just what his soul needed, 
and accepted it without any questionings. When the exercises were 
over, he stole away unobserved, and went home to tell his family and 
friends the wonderful things he had heard. 

After the Sabbath Mr. Harris found an old zayat or rest-house 
which had long been deserted, obtained permission from the govern- 
ment to occupy it, and repaired it for a temporary home. In a few 
days the Karen who had heard the gospel on the previous Sabbath, 
Sau Tah-ree by name, sought out the abode of the missionary, told him 
how he had heard the truth from his lips, and expressed his desire to 
hear more. In a short time he came again, bringing with him his wife 
and her parents. They with others heard the truth, and gladly ac- 
cepted it, and after the expiration of seven weeks eight joyful con- 
verts, seven Karens and one Shan who was the first fruits of his tribe, 
put on Christ by an open confession. The waters which before had 
reflected nothing but the idolatrous rites of a deluded people, were now 
stirred for the first time by the sacred rite of baptism. On the evening 
of the same day, November 138th, 1853, the first church at Shwegyin 
was organized, and the little band of disciples came around the table of 
their Lord to commemorate His dying love. 

The day had dawned brightly and full of promise. Yet, as is the 
case with so much of the work on the foreign field, dark, portentous 
clouds mingled strangely with the brightness. On the evening of the 
day when the first church of Shwegyin was organized, after the Lord’s 


Supper had been observed, Mrs. Harris, who on the way up from 
Maulmein had contracted one of the diseases common to the country 
but had somewhat recovered, suffered a relapse. It soon became evi- 
dent that her end was fast approaching. It is said of her that in her 
younger days she had so great a horror of death that when her own 
mother died she dared not go into the room where the body lay, but 
went out and peered in through the window. But when the time of her 
own departure drew near, knowing how hard it would be for her hus- 
band to perform the last sad rites there hundreds of miles from any 
other white woman’s face, she set about attiring herself for her last 
resting place. She indicated the dress that she wished to wear, helped 
to put it on, assisted in arranging her hair, kissed the four children she 
was about to leave behind, spoke a parting message to the husband and 
father, and when all was over she said, ‘‘It is not often that a mother 
is called upon to array herself for the grave, but I have done it with as 
much composure as though I were going out to make a eall.’’ In her 
last hours she seemed to see as in a vision a great company coming up 
from that dark land, all clothed in white and with palms of vietory in 
their hands, and when the moment of dissolution arrived, with the 
words ** Praise the Lord’’ upon her lips, she passed away, while a smile 
of ecstatic joy hovered over her face, like a ray of reflected glory from 
above, so that the youngest child said to her father, ‘‘What makes 
mamma laugh?’’ God be praised for the victory which He gives to His 
children, even in the most adverse circumstances, over the last creat 
enemy. 

It was on the 23rd of November, 1853, that the hght of this home 
went out forever. The little family must now be disbanded, and the 
motherless children taken to America. Preparations were at once 
made to leave for Rangoon. Arriving there, it was thought best that 
Miss Miranda Vinton, who had been much in Mr. Harris’s family while 
they were in Maulmein, should accompany the children home, while 
the father should return to his promising field of labor. Accordingly 
on the 23rd of January, 1854, Mr. Harris took his four little ones to the 
ship Collingwood, which was to bear them far away from his sight. 
In alluding to it in after years he used to say that this was the most 
trying event of his life. Committing the precious charges to the lov- 
ing care of Him who said, ‘‘ When thy father and thy mother forsake 
thee, then the Lord will take thee up,’’ he soon retraced his footsteps 
to the desolate home in Shwegyin. 

But the missionary was not left without consolation for he soon 
found that those whom God had so lately given him in this dark place 


were ready to gather around him with words of sympathy and cheer. 
Sau Tah-ree, the first convert, removed with his family to the mission 
compound so he might be near the missionary and prepare himself 
for future usefulness. He commenced at once to learn to read, and 
as soon as he understood a truth of the gospel, he was ready to impart 
it to his fellow-countrymen. He became in time an efficient co-laborer 
with the missionary, preaching the Word with great originality and 
power, and remained so until the time of his death about fifteen years 
after. At the time when he and his wife became Christians, they had 
one son named Pah-kau-too. Three other sons were afterwards born 
to them to whom they gave the scriptural names of Samuel, Isaiah, 
and John. All of these in time became worthy of their names. Sau 
Tah-ree’s wife and parents, having heard the gospel for the first time 
from his lips, soon united with the people of God, and became earnest 
exemplars of the new religion. The wife was an active woman of un- 
usual intelligence. Her parents were remarkable for their decision 
of character, and wielded an excellent influence over their neighbors. 
Although he lived a long distance from the chapel, the father was 
seldom absent from the services on the Lord’s Day, and often em- 
phasized the words of the preacher by some timely remark. The 
mother was a leper, but was kindly cared for by her husband. She 
lived a helpless life for many years, but was spared to pray for the 
heathen. The last labor of love she was able to do with her decaying 
hands, was to make some thatch for the chapel. The two left this 
scene of care and suffering at about the same time with the dreaded 
cholera, which yearly takes away so many victims. 

Mr. Harris entered with his whole soul into the work whereunto 
he felt that the Lord of the Harvest had called him. He made frequent 
trips into the jungles, where many were found ready to lsten to the 
sweet story of the Savior’s love and merey, for it soon developed that 
the heathen had in a wonderful manner been especially prepared for 
the reception of the gospel. 

About a year before this time the cholera had broken out in the 
upper part of the district, bringing distress and desolation wherever 
it appeared. One morning a Karen named Sau Doo-moo arose with 
his whole family in the enjoyment of health. The sun set on the lifeless 
remains of his wife and all his children save one helpless infant. Dis- 
tracted with grief he left this child in the care of the Burmans, and 
went forth, not knowing or caring whither he went. Day after day 
found him so much farther from his native village. The Karens are 
a very hospitable people, and he never lacked for food or shelter. 


The simple story of his grief touched the hearts of those who heard 
it, and called forth their sympathy. A Heavenly Father’s hand, unseen 
by him, led him on week after week, and still his sorrow was not as- 
suaged. He was at last found by Christian Karens near Tavoy, about 
three hundred miles from his home. When they became acquainted 
with his great affliction, they told him of a balm in Gilead and a Phy- 
sician there. He lstened and accepted the consolation which was pre- 
sented to him in the gospel. He was taught the simple truth and learned 
to read the word of God for himself. 

About the time that Mr. Harris went to Shwegyin, Sau Doo-moo 
returned to his native village, to tell to all what a dear Saviour he 
had found. The news of his arrival, and the stranger news that he 
had brought with him the long-expected book, flew like wild-fire 
through all the widespread jungles. 

During the first six months of Mr. Harris’ labor fifty-one Karens 
put on Christ by baptism, and professed before their heathen neighbors 
that they had left the superstitions of their forefathers and were wor- 
shippers of the eternal God. The Lord was indeed present to bless 
the lone missionary. Sau Doo-moo also proved himself to be a worthy 
laborer in the field. One year from the commencement of the mission, 
five hundred and seventy-seven converts had been baptized and six 
churches had been formed. Surely the prophetic vision of the dear 
departed one was reaching its fulfillment. Sau Doo-moo, who had 
been early ordained, baptized most of these persons. Mr. Harris seldom 
administered the rite of baptism by his own hands. He wished to give 
no occasion to any to say that they had built on other foundation than 
Christ Jesus. 

On the 10th of January, 1854, the six churches met together at 
a village in a district a little to the north of Shwegyin named from 
its principal town Ler-do, meaning Great Stone, from the fact that 
a group of huge bowlders crowned the summit of a little hill near by. 
Here an association was organized which is still called the Great Stone 
Association. With what emotions of joy and gratitude must the mis- 
sionary have looked upon the first great annual gathering of these 
people of God. From the very first the spirit of evangelism was strong 
among them, for we read that at this meeting four men were desig- 
nated to carry the gospel to the regions beyond. As the Karens when 
converted have a great thirst for knowledge, arrangements were also 
made to open a school in town for the education of those who wished 
to prepare themselves for the gospel ministry and for the general in- 
struction of the people in useful knowledge. The Karens themselves 


provided the paddy or rice, and did all in their power to assist in the 
undertaking. Thus the work which was commenced in weakness, and 
was accompanied at first by severe trials, had been signally blessed 
by the Master and carried forward with great success. 


YEARS OF TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE. 


Promising as was the beginning of the Shwegyin Karen mission, 
the story of its later development is one of comparatively slow outward 
progress. With between six and seven hundred converts won before 
that first meeting of the association in 1854, the year 1865 saw only 
732 names on the rolls of the churches, and in 1885, after twenty years 
more, there were but 1,104 members reported. Those early Christians, 
although rejoicing in a new found hope, were still densely ignorant. 
It is said that they knew only two things—first, that their long-expect- 
ed book had been brought to them; and, second, that they need fear 
the evil spirits no more, for Jesus was stronger than the evil spirits. 
That was enough for salvation, and many no doubt died triumphantly 
in that simple faith, but it was not enough for the highest efficiency 
in the Christian life. For that long years of training and discipline 
were required. And training they surely had, but it was not only a 
training by their missionary, nor even a training of themselves in their 
personal experiences, but it was also, it would seem, a training in 
the person of their missionary. For it may be laid down as almost 
a law of the missionary hfe and work that in order that his people 
may grow and become strong the missionary must suffer. For as he 
suffers and shows forth the fruits of a quiet Christian faith his people 
imitate him and develop a similar faith. 

The history of the Shwegyin Karen mission from the very begin- 
ning on almost to the present time has been from the human point 
of view one of repeated disappointments and reverses. In no other 
of our Karen missions has the missionary force, to which the native 
Christians naturally look for guidance and help, been at nearly all 
times so meager and suffered from so frequent depletions. Time and 
again has the field been left entirely alone for years in succession 
without a single missionary in charge. But the very fact of being left 
to themselves and being obliged to take up the responsibilities which 
the missionary has reluctantly laid down, has tended to develop on 
the part of the native Christians an independence of character and a 
steadfastness of purpose which perhaps could have been acquired in 
no other way. Not only so, but the Karen Christians of Shwegyin 
have a spirit of Christian resignation which it is believed is marked 


Po Maung avery saint of God, a Karen Christian of the old type. He wears the 
distinctive Karen jacket and Burmese coat and skirt. His favorite head-dress is a 
bath towel arranged in such a way as to show the fringed ends. 


and unusual, and which seems attributable in no small degree to their 
witnessing the unassuming, but deep, unwavering faith of their mis- 
sionary, Mr. Harris, in the midst of repeated and sore trials. 

In the early part of the year 1856 Mr. Harris married Miss Miranda 
Vinton, a member of that family of Vintons which has made for itself 
so enviable a record in the annals of the Karen missions. She was a 
sister of Rev. Justus Vinton, and had already been in Burma five or 
six years when Mr. Harris went out with his first wife. Indeed, she 
introduced the newly arrived missionaries to the people, assisted them 
in acquiring the language, and did all in her power to make them 
useful and happy. She spent some time in their family during their 
stay of seven years in Maulmein, and when the four motherless children 
were to be sent to America it was she who consented to leave her work 
and take upon herself the care and responsibility incident to such an 
undertaking. She had already proven herself to be in every way a 
most efficient worker, and the missionary and the newly converted 
disciples at Shwegyin anticipated her coming with great pleasure. 
On the 16th of March she arrived at the home of her brother in Ran- 
goon on her return from America. In a few days Mr. Harris met 
her, and they were united in the bonds of holy wedlock. The next 
day they started on an elephant, taking an overland trip to their 
home in Shwegyin. It was a bright day for the mission when they 
arrived at their destination. The Karens came in from all quarters 
and gave them a most hearty weleome. The school soon opened, and 
Mrs. Harris at once gained the sincere love and respect of all who 
came within her influence. She was in every way a worthy co-laborer 
with her indefatigable husband in a work exceedingly dear to both 
their hearts. She had an excellent command of the Karen language. 
was a good singer, and possessed unusual ability as a teacher. Never 
was Mrs. Harris more happy than in her work at this station. Bright 
indeed were those days of usefulness, and fraught with the hope that 
the years to come were just as full of such days of promise. But in 
the midst of this usefulness, when only five short months had passed 
away, Mrs. Harris, who for twelve vears had been the personification 
of health, was laid prostrate by the jungle fever then so prevalent 
at this station, and in a few days she was no more. She was removed 
from her earthly labors to her heavenly home September 9, 1856. 

This second shock was almost paralyzing in its effect on the newly 
formed churches. When the heathen are inclined to worship the eter- 
nal God, and affliction of any kind crosses their path, they consider 
it a bad omen, and say the evil spirits are against them. In such a 


case they frequently return to their evil ways. So, when in the provi- 
dence of God the family of the missionary himself was thus a second 
time stricken, many of the heathen refused to listen further to the 
preaching of the gospel. 

Mr. Harris had now spent about eleven years in the country, and 
the severe labor required at this new station, together with the trying 
scenes through which he had passed, had undermined his constitution. 
He now beeame subject to repeated attacks of fever, until the physician 
recommended a change of climate as necessary to restore him to his 
wonted health. It was a serious matter indeed for him to leave the 
field at this critical time, but it seemed to be the only safe course to 
pursue. So with emotions of both sorrow and joy he set sail for his 
native land. 

Sau Doo-moo was still at his post performing faithful duty. Sau 
Tah-ree, the first convert, who had proved himself a strong, efficient 
worker, was still on the mission compound and ready for the work 
assigned him. Other native laborers had been raised up, and the 
churches, which were self-supporting, were supplied with pastors. Rev. 
George Watrous and wife had been recently sent to labor among the 
Burmans of this station, and to them Mr. Harris entrusted the watch- 
care of the churches. They were soon transferred to the Karen mis- 
gion, and entered with zeal upon the work. But the health of Mr. 
Watrous failing in a few months, they were obliged to leave the station. 

When the Karen Christians were again disappointed and left alone 
without foreign aid, they felt the necessity of looking to the Great 
Shepherd for help. Although some became disheartened, the greater 
part of them remained steadfast and firm in the truth. Most of the 
native pastors were very zealous, and felt the responsibility of souls 
upon their hearts. Mr. Vinton of Rangoon visited this station while 
Mr. Harris was absent, and wrote to him as follows: ‘¢ T don’t believe 
there is a prayer goes up to God from all these jungles, but the great 
burden is, ‘O Lord, send back our beloved teacher,’ and you must 
come at once that their prayers may be answered.”’ Before two years 
had passed away they were by the grace of God permitted to look 
upon the face of him for whom they had so earnestly prayed. 

During the absence of Mr. Harris in America he married Mrs. 
J. E. Chapman, a widowed sister of his first wife, and she, with her 
daughter, five years of age, accompanied him to Burma. After a sea 
voyage of more than five months they arrived in Rangoon on the 
25th of December, 1858. As Mrs. Harris had received instruction 
from her husband on their passage out, she had so far acquired the 


Karen language as to be able to read it intelligently on her arrival, 
and to commence very soon the duties devolving on her as a mission- 
ary. She had made great sacrifice in leaving two children behind 
her, and so no effort was too great that she might accomplish the 
object for which she had come. It was thought best, however, that 
she should remain in Rangoon until she should become somewhat aceli- 
mated, before going to the regions farther inland. Mr. Harris there- 
fore proceeded alone on an overland journey to Shwegyin, and visited 
all the churches from which he had been so long separated. The wel- 
come given him was cordial. Many of the Christians left their homes 
and followed him from village to village that they might listen to all 
the words that fell from his lips. 

When the rainy season had fully set in and the passage for boats 
was opened to Rangoon, Mr. Harris went there for his wife and little 
daughter. After the return voyage of several days in a small, un- 
comfortable native boat, they were glad to see before them in the 
distance the town of Shwegyin. But as they came within hailing dis- 
tance of the mission compound they were startled by hearing the 
words: ‘‘ The cholera! The cholera!’’ The little company landed 
at once, and found that this dreadful disease had taken away many 
who were in health when Mr. Harris left them, and that others were 
ill and some were dying. Mr. Harris attended at once to the needs 
of the sick, but it was soon decided to dismiss the school, which had 
opened most hopefully, so that all might return to their jungle homes. 
The next day Mr. Harris himself was taken violently ill with the same 
disease. The day after Mrs. Harris came down with malarial fever, 
and so very soon they felt obhiged to flee to Rangoon for safety. 

Mr. and Mrs. Harris regained their health in Rangoon, and early 
the next dry season retraced their steps to their needy field. The 
Karens had now made arrangements which they hoped would conduce 
to their health and well-being. They had erected a house three days’ 
journey from the town in Sau Doo-moo’s village, where they wished 
to have a school opened in the more immediate vicinity of the churches. 
When all things were in readiness, the family started on their journey, 
and at the expiration of three days left their perch upon the elephant, 
and found themselves surrounded by happy-faced natives. Parties 
of young men and women came in from time to time bringing with 
them their own food, till the school numbered eighty scholars. The 
Karens had made everything as homelike as possible for the mission- 
ary and his family. One church had made a table, another a settee— 
both very awkward, to be sure—and these had been brought in long 


distances for the comfort of the inmates of the new house. It was 
very touching to see the devotion of this simple-minded people and 
their desire to do everything in their power for those whom they loved, 
and who they knew had made sacrifices for their good. But when 
the school had been in progress only three weeks, little Julia, the 
daughter of Mrs. Harris, a child whom all had learned to love, was 
stricken down with a disease of the throat. In spite of all the remedies 
that were at hand, this sickness proved fatal in the short space of 
thirty-six hours. 

Never before, said Sau Doo-Moo, had there been such mourning 
in that village. A tree was cut down, and a casket just large enough 
for the little body was fashioned out of it with the rude native ax, 
and with gentle hands the Karens helped to place in it the precious 
dust. Then they bound the whole about with coarse rattan, and sealed 
it with a kind of pitch to make it air-tight. Mrs. Harris had been 
ill of fever before the death of the child, and as Mr. Harris had some 
symptoms of the same disease it was deemed best to return with the 
body to their home in town. When all the preparations had been 
made, the casket was borne swung from the shoulders of loving Karens, 
and the solemn march began. The first night was spent in a rude 
zayat, the seco ond in a tent spread in the jungle, and the third day 
the procession halted before the mission-house, from which so recently 
had gone out a hopeful and happy company. How sad was the journey 
only those who have had a mother’s breaking heart can know. On 
the morning of the next day, which was the Lord’s Day, Mrs. Harris 
was again taken very ill of fever. In the afternoon the remains of 
the little one were borne to their last resting place, and laid by the side 
of the two faithful ones who had gone before. 

Little Julia was convicted of sin at a very early age, and, strangely 
for one so young, was under conviction for several months. At length 
about the time of her sixth birthday she said to her mother: ** Mamma, 
I think I am a Christian.’’ When asked why she thought so, she re- 
plied with a prehy smile: ‘‘ Because Jesus said, ‘Ask, and it shall 
be given you,’ and I have asked him for a new heart; and, Mamma, 
doesn’t He always do just as He says He will?’’ This happened during 
the long voyage out from America to Burma. From that time on she 
was a happy Christian, and according to her ability a real little mis- 
sionary. She never excused herself from taking a part in the prayer 
meeting whenever she was present, and her great desire was for the 
conversion of the heathen. Her simple, earnest, childish talk never 
failed to interest voung and old alike, and it is believed that, few 


as were her years on earth, she nevertheless sowed with her tiny hand 
seed which has since sprung up and borne fruit abundantly. 

The school opened in town the following May with encouraging 
prospects. The Holy Spirit was present to bless, and a number of 
students were converted and baptized during the session. But during 
the latter part of the year Mrs. Harris suffered from frequent attacks 
of jungle fever, and as the news from their children in the home land 
was unfavorable, it became necessary for Mr. and Mrs. Harris to 
return to America. They took with them two Karen lads that they 
might be educated in this country and prepared for a more useful 
service among their countrymen. One of these was Kah-chur, then 
about fifteen years of age, who, when Sau Doo-moo returned to his 
native village some years before with a book, ran away from home, 
contrary to his father’s commands, found the strange man with the 
book, and learned to read. He then returned home, the proud owner 
of a two-leaved tract. His father met him with derision, saying that 
now they should undoubtedly see a prodigy of learning. To his as- 
tonishment the httle fellow brought out his tract and read it, and 
this was a performance so much more wonderful than anything he 
had thought possible that he could say no more and was soon convert- 
ed, father and son being baptized not long after and uniting with the 
church. The other Karen lad whom Mr. and Mrs. Harris took with 
them to America was Pah-kau-too, the oldest son of Sau Tah-ree, an 
active sprightly youth of about eleven years of age. Both of these 
boys were taken to Hamilton, N. Y., studied at Madison (now Colgate) 
University, were graduated with honor, and-later returned to their 
own country to do efficient service. 

It may be of interest here to give a translation of a letter which 
was sent by the Shwegyin Karen Christians with a collection of two 
hundred rupees to the American Baptist Missionary Union during 
Mr. Harris’ absence in America: 

‘* Beloved brethren of other countries and cities in every place: 
We desire to write to you a few words about the disciples of Shwegyin. 
To every one who may see this letter we would say, Bear with us, 
and pray to God our Lord for us; for we here in Shwegyin have no 
missionary to instruct, encourage and help us, as they have in other 
places. We are like orphans, bereft of father and mother, left deso- 
late, sleepy and hungry; in other words, we are like the wounded and 
fallen, without a physician. The reason of our sorrow is that during 
the year some have apostatized from the truth of the living God and 
returned to the customs of their forefathers, and some have become 


unstable and wavering and restless like the waves of the sea. There- 
fore, beloved brethren in every place, bear with us and help us by 
your prayers. Teacher Cross of Toungoo does all he can for us, and 
through him we receive New Testaments and hymn books. During 
the year 1864 we have been consulting how to get back our Teacher 
Harris from America. We, the disciples of Shwegyin, have collected 
two hundred rupees toward paying the passage of Teacher Harris; 
therefore, dear brothers and sisters in every place, great and small, 
male and female, have pity on us; pray for us and assist us to get 
back our teacher. 
(Signed ) ‘* Teacher Pah-Maw.’’ 


On the 7th of March, 1865, Mr. Harris returned alone to his field 
of labor, and was warmly welcomed by his people. At the annual 
meeting of the association which was held soon after, the fine spirit 
of independence of the native Christians was shown by the remark 
of Thra Pah-maw, one of their leading preachers, who, when the ques- 
tion arose as to whether they should accept grant-in-aid from. the 
government for the support of the town school, as other missions were 
doing, said: ‘‘ If we eat our own rice, I think we shall enjoy it the 
better.’’ 

In 1868 Mrs. Harris joined her husband, to the great joy of all 
who knew her. Although she was suffering from a gradual failure 
of vision, she entered into the work with her usual zeal, and made 
herself useful in the school so far as she was able. Sau Tah-ree, the 
first convert at Shwegyin, died that year. In 1870 Sau Doo-moo also 
passed away. The infant son, who was left in the hands of the Bur- 
mans when Sau Doo-moo forsook his home in despair and wandered 
away to Tavoy, had then grown up to become an honored member 
of the church. He did not long survive his father, but was killed 
by a tiger, leaving a wife and several children to mourn his untimely 
death. 


As illustrating the opposition which the missionary frequently 
meets in his work, may be told the following story which at about 
that time began to be circulated among the heathen Karens by some 
evil-minded person: 

‘““ An old Karen lay at the point of death. Calling his children 
about him he spoke to them as follows: ‘ My dear children, I have 
something to tell you. When Teacher Harris came here, I was one 
of his first and most zealous followers. I had perfect confidence in 
him, and did everything that he said without doubt or question. But 


when he had made about a dozen converts, he invited us to take a 
ride with him in his boat. We did so. He took us down the river 
and out to sea. There a great and wonderful ship awaited us with 
sails which were lke wings and carried it faster than any ship we 
had ever seen before, faster even than the fastest clouds. The teacher 
made us go on board. The room which he occupied was luxuriously 
furnished and decorated with gold and silver. After sailing for many, 
many days, the ship stopped in its course near an island. By and 
by it began to be rumored that here on this island lived the Daw t’kah, 
a great monster which delights to devour human flesh. And surely 
enough, the Daw-t’kah himself soon came on board to bargain for 
us, and when he had poured out a roomful of gold for the teacher, 
he scooped the disciples off of the deck into his bag with one hand, 
as you would gather the crumbs from a table, and returned to his 
home. Fortunately for me, when I saw what was about to happen, 
I slipped out of sight, and dropped into the hold of the ship. There 
I was able to secrete myself until I knew we were well on our way 
home. Then I became so hungry that I was forced to leave my hiding 
place. I threw myself at the teacher’s feet, and begged him to spare 
my life. At first he was very angry, and threatened to kill me with 
the most horrible cruelties, but after much entreaty on my part he 
finally consented to spare me on one condition. I was to keep all 
that I had seen a profound secret as long as I lived, and in the mean- 
time I was to use all my influence in getting more converts for him. 
IT have kept my promise faithfully, for I knew that if I did not the 
teacher would devise the most excruciating tortures for me. But now 
I am about to die, and I can keep the terrible secret no longer. Listen 
to what I say. Beware, beware of these Christian teachers!’ ”’ 

In 1871 Mrs. Harris, on account of frequent and alarming attacks 
of fever, was obliged to return to America, leaving her husband alone. 
In the fall of 1873, however, a new laborer was added to the working 
force in the person of Kah-chur, one of the Karen boys who had been 
educated in America. His integrity of character soon won for him a 
high place in the esteem of his people. In a short time he was ordained 
to the gospel ministry, and entered upon his work with earnest zeal, 
and has ever since been a useful laborer, a wise and safe counsellor 
among his people. His father, who had anxiously watched for his re- 
turn, was permitted to look once more on the face of his son, but 
left this world a few months after in the blessed hope of immortality 
beyond the grave. Many of Kah-chur’s neighbors had professed to 
beheve, during his long absence in America, that the missionary had 


fed him to the Daw t’kah, the huge monster supposed to live on human 
flesh, and had declared their intention, if ever Kah-chur returned, to 
become Christians and worship his God. But when Kah-chur indeed 
returned and went among them, and urged them to keep their pledges, 
they refused to believe that he was the real Kah-chur, but said that 
he was a clever substitute. And from that day on the people of that 
generation have been singularly hardened against the gospel. 

Mr. Harris had long been pleading for a missionary to be sent 
to his field who should be associated with him in the work and so 
prepare to take it up whenever he should be compelled to lay it down. 
In 1873 Rev. B. P. Cross and his wife were sent to Shwegyin. This 
was a source of great joy and satisfaction to Mr. Harris, especially as 
Mr. Cross was born and brought up in the country, and would soon 
be able to recall the language of the people so as to do effective work 
among them. But it was not long before the death of his mother, 
Mrs. E. B. Cross, in Toungos, and he was ealled to that station to 
labor with his bereaved father. 

In 1874 a new chapel, a large dormitory for the school, and a 
dining hall, with furniture suitable to a people who were rising in 
the seale of civilization, were built at Shwegyin, the whole expense 
being borne by Mr. Harris and the Karens. In 1875 Pah-kau-too, 
the oldest son of Sau Tah-ree, returned from America, having com- 
pleted his education, but took up work in Rangoon instead of at Shweg- 
yin. In the latter part of this year Mr. Harris began to suffer from 
frequent attacks of erysipelas, which grew more and more severe, 
and continued to affect him for a period of six months with little 
or no palliation. This made it necessary for him to return in 1876 
to America. He left Kah-chur as an active laborer in the field, and 
as Rev. and Mrs. H. W. Hale had been sent a few months before to 
the Burmese department he requested this brother to take the general 
oversight of the Karen work. 

Mr. Hale wrote as follows of the meeting of the association the 
succeeding year: ‘‘ About two hundred men, women and children 
had come from one to two or three days’ journey on foot, in order 
to enjoy the meeting, which was conducted entirely by Karens. Three 
or four villages made request for teachers, who were sent to them by 
the associational committee. One man had invited the guests, but 
having been burned out, most unfortunately, just before the meeting, 
did not feel able to provide for their stay over the Sabbath. It was 
therefore proposed to shorten the session, but when the heathen people 
in the vicinity heard of it, they brought in food in abundanee that 


the meetings might be continued. So nearly all the people remained 
till Monday, and enjoyed the three days’ service of prayer, preaching 
and singing, and drawing nearer to God.’’ 

In 1877 Mr. Harris returned to his field of labor. On-arriving 
at the station he found that Mr. and Mrs. Hale had gone home, and 
Kah-chur was occupying the field alone. The Karens were still faithful 
to the trust committed to them. The churches went on from year to 
year supporting their pastors and providing for the school in town 
as well as for the schools in their own villages. They also sent the 
gospel, so far as they were able, to the regions beyond. Mr. Harris, 
it is needless to say, was delighted with the spirit of independence of 
the people, and felt that the twenty-five years of training had not been 
in vain. As he felt the infirmities of age creeping upon him, however, 
Rev. and Mrs. W. I. Price were sent to his assistance. That was in 
the year 1880. In the following year Mr. Harris suffered from a return 
of the erysipelas, and in February, 1882, he was obliged to turn his 
face for the last time to the home land. He arrived safely at his home 
in Hamilton, N. Y., the following April, with partially restored health. 
From this time on he felt that he had a duty to his wife, now nearly 
blind. Formerly their son Edward had been with his mother, and 
afforded her needed companionship and assistance, but now his school 
days at Hamilton were finished and he must go elsewhere. Mr. Harris 
therefore spent his remaining days in quiet retirement. He died on 
the Ist of March, 1884. Mrs. Harris survived him a little over twenty 
vears, passing away September 6, 1905. Although on account of re- 
peated and complete failure of health and loss of sight she was per- 
mitted to be on the field only five or six years all told, yet the record 
of her service, as written in the hearts of the people, is a noble one. 
She made an excellent translation of the familiar hymn, ‘‘ He Leadeth 
Me,’’ and it is felt by many that, if she had done nothing else, it would 
be a work well worthy of a lifetime; for this is today the best known 
hymn in the language, and, if one may judge from the frequency 
with which one hears it, it would seem to be within bounds to say 
that scarcely a week passes when it is not sung in every one of the 
thousand Christian Karen villages of Burma. Probably it has already 
comforted and strengthened the hearts of over a hundred thousand 
of God’s people among that race, and it seems destined to help other 
hundreds of thousands in the time to come. It means much to touch 
such a vast multitude of people in their spiritual life. To the last Mrs. 
Harris had a deep interest in the great cause for which she had made 
such high and holy sacrifice, and she parted cheerfully from her son, 
Rey. E. N. Harris, that he might go to take up the work which his 
father had laid down. 


REVIEW AND SUMMARY OF THE WORK OF REV. NORMAN 
HARRIS—AN APPRECIATION. 


It seems fitting to pause here for a brief review of the work of 
Rev. Norman Harris in the founding of the Shwegyin Karen mission 
and its development from the beginning up to the point now reached 
in the course of this narrative. And of that work it may be said that 
the more it is studied and known, the higher is the appreciation which 
it compels. 

Attention has already been called briefly to the fine spirit of in- 
dependence shown by the Shwegyin Karens. Almost from the very 
beginning they supported their own churches and schools entirely, 
eonducted their own missionary enterprises, and performed all the 
functions pertaining to them as organized companies of Christian disei- 
ples. But let it not be supposed that all this came about by accident, 
or that it developed spontaneously out of the natural nobility of the 
people. There were undoubtedly among the Karen Christians of 
Shwegyin men of exceptional parts, like Teacher Pah-Maw, to whom 
reference has already been made, but whatever innate elements of 
streneth these may have had would never have been developed and 
brought to the front, one may be sure, without encouragement from 
the missionary. And it is not too much to say that the noble spirit 
of independence of the Shwegyin churches was but the reflection of 
that same spirit of independence which enabled Mr. Harris to face 
the opposition of his family when a timid boy, and later to undertake 
the long struggle required to enable him to obtain a college education, 
and brought him through without a cent of indebtedness and under 
obligation to no one for help. 

If now it be asked what principles guided Mr. Harris in the con- 
duct of the Shwegyin mission and enabled him to develop these traits 
of independence and of power, it may be replied that, first of all, 
Mr. Harris seems to have acted on the principle that it was his part 
not so much to do things, to inaugurate movements, to get his people 
launched on enterprises, as to plant in their minds and hearts truths, 
convictions, motives, which would later spring up in deeds. Closely 
allied to this principle was the principle that he would do nothing 
which his people could do. Having planted the seed, he tended and 
watched it to be sure, but he was careful not to interfere with its 
own normal growth. He kept his hands off, and let it have its own 
way. For instance, as has already been pointed out, he seldom bap- 
tized his converts. He left that to the native ordained preachers. 
He always sought to honor their calling, to put them forward, keep- 


ing himself in the background, and in every other way to magnify 
the native work. Still another principle on which he labored was that 
he would inaugurate nothing which the native Christians could not 
carry on in his absence and without his help. It is at once evident 
that these principles were fundamental, that they were of such a na- 
ture that, when conscientiously and faithfully apphed, they could not 
help profoundly affecting the whole character of the work. 

It is difficult at the present time to transfer one’s self back in 
mind to the early beginnings of Karen mission work, but it is certain 
that at that time lines of missionary policy were adopted by some 
which were far from being best for the ultimate interests of the work. 
This is not to be wondered at. New and strange conditions had arisen. 
Converts were being gathered into the churches by hundreds and by 
thousands, as in no other modern mission previous to that time. It 
seemed that the entire Karen people were at once to become Chris- 
tians, that the prophecy about a nation being born in a day was receiv- 
ing fulfillment. And these new converts were all eager for an educa- 
tion. Never, even to this day, is a Karen converted but, no matter 
how dark his mind may have been before, he at once conceives a great 
hunger for knowledge. He may not have the natural capacity to ac- 
quire more than a very limited store of information, but the hunger 
is there, and he is rarely satisfied until he has at least made the attempt 
to appease it. And at the same time that the Karen conceives a 
eraving for knowledge, he also becomes desirous of acquiring the 
civilization of his white brother. Conversion means the awakening of 
his entire being, and he wants all that will minister to his higher 
nature. And it was to be expected that the missionaries would be re- 
sponsive to the desires of their people. The thought of bringing un- 
tutored races the benefits of civilization has always added a certain 
glamor and attractiveness to the missionary enterprise which it would 
not otherwise have had. And so the missionaries entered upon their 
work with tremendous enthusiasm. Astronomies and other books on 
modern science were prepared, illustrated with fine plates and engrav- 
ings—doubtless taken from English works of the same kind—which 
now, with all the progress that has been made, would be considered 
unnecessarily elaborate. To outward appearance the Karen was poor, 
abjectly poor. He wore nothing but a bag-shaped jacket coming down 
to the knees, and it was not easy to see that as a matter of fact he might 
be, comparatively speaking, better off than his white brother, inasmuch 
as his necessities were fewer. And so the first impulse was to see 
him more suitably clothed. Money among the people was scarce. The 


churches were not able to pay salaries to their pastors in money, or 
indeed in anything else, and so the missionary oftentimes paid _ sal- 
aries to the pastors under his care, and in some instances hired evan- 
gelists with his own money, or with money raised in America for 
the purpose, and sent them out to preach to the heathen. It was 
felt that the times were urgent, that advantage must be taken of 
the tremendous tide that was setting in, that the stupendous oppor- 
tunities presenting themselves must be seized upon and utilized at 
once to the utmost possible extent. 

In such circumstances it required no little firmness of character 
and strength of conviction to enable one to stand by the principles 
mentioned above as having been adopted by Mr. Harris.. But the result 
has shown that in pursuing the policy which he did, Mr. Harris was 
wise. The plan pursued by some of paying pastors and hiring evan- 
gelists was a mistake, a perfectly natural one to be sure—what more 
natural than for the missionary, coming from a country in which pas- 
tors are supported more or less adequately by their churches, to think 
that there, also, pastors should be supported?—and yet it was a seri- 
ous mistake, and wrought great detriment to the cause. For in those 
missions where this policy was pursued, the churches are to this day 
weak and backward. The tendency was for them to become pamper- 
ized. They learned to depend on the aid received, and felt that they 
could not do without it. In the beginnings of our best missions 
among the Karens, on the other hand, the pastors were not supported 
by the churches, but rather the churches were supported by the pastors. 
Those who were chosen as pastors in the first place were men who 
were naturally leaders among their people. They were men of ideas, 
men of aggréssiveness, men who could think of things in the large, 
who could plan enterprises, and had the energy to carry them through. 
These men of foresight, in that day when the government of the coun- 
try was changing hands, and a new era was dawning on the people 
not only spiritually but in every other way, saw here and there oppor- 
tunities for improving the condition of their people, and seized them. 
Some obtained large grants of land from the government, invited 
the members of their churches to occupy it, and by gradual accretions 
from here and there built up thriving Christian communities. Others 
dug long irrigating ditches so as to extend the culture of the betel 
nut, which had become one of the most profitable of the natural prod- 
ucts of the country, and in this way had accomplished the same object. 
Others found still other ways for leading their people, and, while 
ministering to their spiritual needs, ministering also to their temporal 


necessities. Of course that condition of things could not always con- 
tinue. It was not desirable that it should. Now with more settled 
conditions the churches are more and more undertaking the support 
of their pastors. But pastoral support of the church was right then, 
and, if in those missions where pastors were supported with money 
supphed by the missionary the churches are still weak, this is prob- 
ably due quite as much to the fact that the churches were in this 
way deprived of the splendid leadership which some of the native 
pastors would have developed, as to the fact that habits of independ- 
ence can never be cultivated amid conditions of dependence. 

But principles and a policy of missionary procedure alone are not 
sufficient to account for the results attained by Mr. Harris. Back of 
the principles, back of the mere policy or method of procedure, there 
had to be the strong personal character, else these would have been 
in vain. Mr. Harris was devoted to his people, and they to him, 
and as one goes about among them now, one seems to see him reflected 
in their characters and in their lives. Mr. Harris was a man of great 
simplicity of manner and plainness of dress, and today they, unlike 
the members of other missions, eschew the use of ornaments. They 
say, to be sure, that they do this as a protest against the customs of 
the heathen, for the heathen can never perform their ceremonies unless 
their bracelets are on their hands and their ear-plugs are in their 
ears, and they never dare lay aside their necklaces lest their spirits 
may wander and, returning, find nothing to clasp and help themselves 
back into the body with. But who can doubt that loving imitation 
of their missionary is the real strength of their present custom? In 
common with the other races of the far east the Karens are naturally 
fatalistic. They submit to the inevitable in a way which is quite 
marvelous to people of the west. But the members of the Shwegyin 
Karen churches have a Christian resignation which is far better than 
fatalism, and it seems possible to attribute this fact only to their 
witnessing the wonderfully calm spirit of resignation on the part of 
their missionary. To see a man whom they so greatly loved enduring 
for their sakes separation from all that he held dear, and moving 
among them without a word of complaint, with only kindly smiles and 
cheerful words for them and theirs, must have meant much in their 
spiritual life. Mr. Harris was a man of prayer. To this day there 
is a tradition among the Karens of Shwegyin telling how on one Sun- 
day morning when he was to preach, the people gathered at the usual 
time in the house of God, but he did not appear, and as the time length- 
ened and still he did not come, one of the men went over to his house 


to make inquiries, and as he drew near he heard the voice of the mis- 
sionary lifted in prayer, and as he prayed he said: ‘‘ Lord, I cannot 
go except Thou go with me. Give me a message to this people, else 
my lps will be sealed.’’ The man did not interrupt the prayer, but 
stole back and told the people. And when later the missionary ap- 
peared, they felt that he did indeed have a message of God to their 
souls. And today the Shwegyin Karens believe in prayer. 

To summarize in a single word, the dominant characteristic of 
the work of Mr. Harris was solidity. He built up an enduring edifice. 
He chose methods which were not calculated to make any show or 
display, but have resulted in genuine achievements which some who 
were much more in the public eye failed to attain. A more efficient 
body of native Christians than he trained up is probably nowhere 
to be found today. 


A FORWARD MOVEMENT. 


It is the intention from this point on to deal with the growth and 
development of the native churches rather than with the doings of 
individual missionaries. For those who are interested in the latter, 
it may be sufficient to say, that soon after Mr. Harris left Shwegyin, 
the health of Mrs. Price failing, she and her husband were obliged 
to seek a more favorable climate. Later Rev. David Smith was ap- 
pointed to this field. He reached Shwegyin January 8, 1885. After 
four or five years he returned to America, and his place was taken 
by Rey. E. J. Miller. In a few months Mr. Miller was transferred 
to Rangoon to take charge of the mission press, and the Shwegyin 
Karens were left without a missionary, except when Mr. Miller re- 
turned to them for a few months, until Rev. E. N. Harris, the youngest 
son of Rev. Norman Harris, the founder of the mission, was appointed 
to the field. He with his wife, a daughter of Rev. Thomas Allen, one 
of the early missionaries to the Burmans, reached Shwegyin Novem- 
ber 17, 1893, and has continued in charge ever since except as he has 
been obliged to return to America twice on account of ill-health in his 
family. 

Mention should also be made here of the single women who, as 
well as the wives of the missionaries in charge, have rendered valiant 
and valuable service. The Shwegyin mission had never had a repre- 
sentative of the Women’s Societies until Miss H. E. Hawkes came to 
it from Bassein in 1894. She has won for herself a warm place in 
the hearts of the people, and has retained her connection with the 
mission from that time to this with the exception of a single brief 


REV. EDWARD NORMAN HARRIS 


4 


furlough. At one time she ably represented it for about two years 
in connection with the work at Papun, an account of which is to be 
given farther on in the course of this history. In the fall of 1899 
Miss 8. T. Ragon came to Shwegvin from Maulmein, and did a very 
important service until ill-health obliged her to return to Americé 
four years later. In December, 1903, Miss I. Watson. who for many 
years performed a distinguished service in connection with the Bassein 
Sgaw Karen mission, came to Shwegyin from furlough in America, 
and went almost at once with Miss Hawkes to Papun, where after a 
heroic career, fitting close to a noble life, she died October 4, 1908. 
In 1905 Miss K. K. Bendelow, coming out for the first time from 
America under appointment to Kengtung, was transferred to Shweeg- 
yin, where she has remained ever since as the efficient superintendent 
of the mission school. In 1906 Miss M. M. Larsh, who during a former 
period of service won an enviable record in connection with the Karen 
mission school at Henzada, came to Nyaunglebin, and has ably rep- 
resented the mission there. The women of the mission do a work 
which is less conspicuous than that of the men, but it has often proved 
to be quite as valuable. 

During the period which has thus been briefly outlined, the 
churches of the Shwegyin mission have maintained a steady growth. 
In 1885 they numbered 29, with 1,104 members. In 1893. when the 
present missionary took charge of the field, they numbered 45, with 
about 1,650 members. Jn 1907 they numbered 70, with 2.778 members. 
The period of greatest interest and most remarkable growth dates 
from the year 1899, when a forward movement was begun, which bids 
fair to mean much for the future history of the mission. In order 
that this forward movement may be adequately understood, it will 
be necessary to explain briefly the geographical condition of the field. 

When the mission was established in 1853, Shwegyin was a town 
of considerable importance. It was the headquarters of a political 
district, corresponding somewhat to the capital of a state, and had 
a considerable English population, including a detachment of the Brit- 
ish army which was stationed there. At that time the Sittane River, 
on which Shwegyin is situated, was the main highway of travel be- 
tween Rangoon or Maulmein and Toungoo. The consequence was 
that Shwegyin served as an admirable center from which to reach 
the outlying regions. The government officials were obliged to make 
frequent tours into these parts, and kept the roads well open. When- 
ever any one living in the district had any matters with the govern- 
ment or at court—and litigation means much more in the life of the 


native of those regions of the world than it does to the American— 
he had to come to Shwegyin to attend to them. But in 1885 the 
railroad was put through between Rangoon and Toungoo, and, its 
chief purpose being to develop the agricultural resources of the rich 
alluvial plain of the Sittang River, it left Shwegyin from twelve to 
fifteen miles to one side, for Shwegyin town is located at the extreme 
eastern side of that plain on the first rise of the foot-hills of what 
are known as the Eastern Yomas. The result was to deflect the 
lines of travel very decidedly from the Sittang River. For while 
the Oriental is commonly reputed to be, and really is, slow, he is as 
impatient of traveling by a slow means of conveyance as any one, if 
a more rapid one is open to him. The railroad has really been a great 
blessing to the country, for it has opened up vast tracts of land which 
it was not worth while cultivating before, and enormously developed 
the export trade in rice, the chief agricultural product, increasing 
the value of that commodity many fold. But the native thinks of 
the railroad in no such light. He thinks of it as simply a clever scheme 
on the part of the government to get money out of his pocket. ‘‘ For,”’ 
says he, ‘‘ when I see the cars going by choo choo at such a tremen- 
dous rate, how can I help wanting to ride?’’ The fare for the third | 
class, by which most of the natives travel, is half a cent a mile, so 
that the complaint of the native about the extortion of his money 
seems not to be well founded, but it shows how impossible the slow 
river route became to him after the railroad was opened up. For 
ten years Shwegyin gradually decreased in importance, until in 1895 
the headquarters of the district were removed, and the old Shwegyin 
district was divided between the Toungoo, Pegu, and Thatone dis- 
tricts. From this time on the mission was seriously handicapped in 
its work. Not only had the lines of travel been diverted from Shweg- 
vin, but the roads being no longer kept open as before fell more 
and more into disrepair, and the people no longer had to come to 
Shwegyin on business at court or with the government. In a word 
Shwegyin had ceased to be a strategic center for work. For the 
missionary cannot do his best work on the field unless he sees his 
people any more than the pastor in this country ean do his best 
work unless he comes in contact with the members of his flock. 

The condition described above was accentuated by the fact that 
Shwegyin had not only ceased to be a good center from which to 
reach the field as a whole, but from the first had never been centrally 
lecated with reference to the churches. The home of Sau Doo-moo, 
the Christian Karen who wrought so wonderfully in the beginning 


of the mission, was about fifty miles, or a journey of two days or 
two days and a half to the north of Shwegyin, and it was among 
the surrounding villages that he had his chief success in preaching. 
The consequence was that to this day two-thirds of the churches con- 
nected with the Shwegyin mission are located a journey two or three 
days north of Shwegyin, and actually nearer to Toungoo than to 
Shwegyin. Of the remaining third all but one or two are located 
out on the plains near the railroad. So long as Shwegyin District 
continued in existence, all of the churches being within it, no serious 
difficulty was experienced. But after the division of the Shwegyin 
District, Shwegyin itself and all of the churches to the north came 
within the Toungoo District, and the members of those churches began 
to say, ‘‘ Let us move the mission station from Shwegyin to Toungoo,”’ 
and some of them actually began looking for a site in Toungoo for 
the location of the mission. On the other hand the churches out on 
the plains to the west came within the Pegu District, and the members 
of these churches began to say, ‘‘ Let us move the mission station 
from Shwegyin to Pegu.’’ Thus a rupture was threatened, a rupture 
which seemed pregnant with disastrous consequences. For it was 
felt that to move the station to either Toungoo or Pegu would be 
to leave the original field of the Shwegyin mission, containing accord- 
ing to the government census from a quarter to a third of the entire 
Sgaw Karen population of Burma, practically deserted; for no matter 
how determined missionary and people might be to work the field 
from either of these points, it would be practically impossible to do so. 

The need, therefore, that in some way the people should be held 
to the great work which it belonged to them as to no other people 
under heaven to do, became increasingly urgent. But nothing would 
perhaps have been done but for a remark which was made to Mr. 
Harris by one of the older missionaries not long after he went out 
to the field in 1893. This older missionary said that in order to their 
best prosperity the native churches needed to have foreign mission 
fields of their own. 

A few years before leaving America Mr. Harris had had his atten- 
tion called very forcibly to the history of the Baptist denomination 
in America as showing the healthy reactionary effect of the foreign 
missionary enterprise on those engaged in it. At the beginning of 
the nineteenth century the Baptists of the United States numbered 
about seventy thousand, a poor, scattered, feeble folk, with little of 
common interest or cohesion. Shortly after that they divided about. 
equally on the subject of missions, thirty-five thousand of them be- 


coming mission Baptists, and thirty-five thousand becoming anti-mis- 
sion Baptists. It was at the time when Dr. Adoniram Judson sent 
back his thrilling appeals from Burma for help. The mission Baptists 
heard the call and responded. The anti-mission Baptists, on the other 
hand said—what is said by many who perhaps would not be known 
by their name today—‘‘ Why should we send missionaries to foreign 
lands? We have not enough pastors to meet our own needs. No; 
if God wants to convert the heathen, he can do it without any of 
our aid.’’ What has been the result? Why, if one could believe all 
that one hears in this country even nowadays about foreign missions 
one would perhaps think that the mission Baptists would steadily 
have diminished until by this time they must have become extinct. 
But it has not operated that way. It has had rather the contrary 
effect, lke the story that is circulated about a certain sportsman. 
Up in the Shwegyin District there was a ‘‘ rogue ’’ elephant, for the 
destruction of which the government had offered a reward of money 
in addition to the tusks. This sportsman went up with his elephant 
rifle to hunt the animal. He found it. He fired one shot and the great 
beast fell, apparently dead. But to make sure the sportsman fired 
again. The elephant moved shghtly. The sportsman fired a third 
time. The elephant moved a little more. He fired again and again, 
each shot seeming to have a revivifying effect, until at the sixth 
shot the elephant got up and ran away. The Karens tell the story 
with great gusto. How many “ recensions’’ it has gone through, 
to use a favorite term with the higher critics, it is impossible to say. 
But certain it is that the more hot shot of foreign missions is poured 
into the churches of God anywhere and in whatever conditions, the 
livelier they become. The mission Baptists of America, instead of 
diminishing have increased, not two-fold or three-fold, but ten-fold, 
a hundred-fold, a hundred-and-fifty-fold, until the scattered thirty- 
five thousand have become a mighty host five million strong. And 
from being the tail they have become well-nigh the head, foremost, 
perhaps, in their educational endowments, in the effectiveness of their 
denominational enterprises, and in their equipment for every good 
work. The anti-mission Baptists, on the other hand, have steadily 
diminished until now they are scarcely to be found at all. 

So when the old and experienced missionary said to Mr. Harris 
that in order to attain their best prosperity the Karen churches needed 
to have foreign mission enterprises of their own, the suggestion came 
to him with convincing power, and he began almost at once casting 
about for a suitable foreign field for the Shwegyin churches. After 


giving considerable thought to the matter, he decided on a large, 
important, and almost wholly unevangelized territory adjoining the 
Shwegyin field on the east in what is known as the Salween District. 
with Papun (pronounced Pah-poon) as its headquarters. 

The Salween District was not altogether new mission territory 
to the Shwegyin Karens. When the elder Mr. Harris was on the 
field, he used to make yearly tours into this region, and once actually 
succeeded in organizing a church in the city of Papun. But owing to 
grievous lapses this church soon passed out of existence, and during 
the interim of twelve years between the departure of the elder Mr. 
Harris from the field and the arrival of his son, when the Shwegyin 
mission had no permanent missionary to pursue an established policy, 
the work in the Salween field was discontinued. Later a missionary 
from Maulmein, having his attention called to the field by people 
passing that way, became interested and got the Maulmein associa- 
tion of Karen churches to undertake the work. This association had 
now been engaged about ten years. They sent an evangelist to Papun, 
paying half of his salary themselves and securing the other half from 
the Burma Baptist Convention, an organization which is intended 
as the general agency of the churches of the country for the prose- 
cution of missionary work, and this evangelist had succeeded in organ- 
izing two Karen churches, one at Papun itself with about forty mem- 
bers, and the other at the village of Bwah-der (accent on the last 
syllable), fifteen miles east of Papun, with about the same number of 
members. The Bwah-der chureh had a pastor of its own, whom it was 
supporting, and so there were two native workers in the field. 

Mr. Harris now determined to reclaim, if possible, the field which 
had once been in a manner pre-empted by his father, and so after 
visiting Papun once or twice in person and becoming acquainted with 
the native Christians there, he suggested at a meeting of the Shwegyin 
association that a committee should be appointed to visit the Maul- 
mein association, and request them as a favor to relinquish their opera- 
tions there, and turn the field over to the Shwegyin mission. The sug- 
gestion was adopted, and after a friendly conference the Maulmein 
association agreed to the proposal, with the understanding that the 
two churehes which had already been organized should be free to 
retain their connection with the Maulmein association or to join that 
of Shwegyin, as they might prefer. As a matter of fact, these 
churches retained their connection with Maulmein for two or three 
years, and then formed an association of their own. 


The Shwegyin association entered upon its new obligations with 
zeal and true consecration. At first it was planned simply to retain 
the evangelist who had been employed by the Maulmein association, 
and to send over additional workers as they might be required. 
Accordingly arrangements were made to assume the support of this 
evangelist, who was a man of no little energy and power, and, as the 
Papun chureh already owned a small piece of land on which were 
located its little chapel and a few other buildings, a piece of land near 
by was purchased for the use of the workers of the Shwegyin associa- 
tion who might later be sent to the field. But within less than six 
months from the time when the Shwegyin mission took over the work, 
the Maulmein evangelist died of cholera, that terrible disease which 
is always endemic in the country. It then became incumbent on the 
Shwegyin association to bend itself to its newly assumed task with 
resoluteness and determination. And to their honour be it said that 
the churches acquitted themselves in a manner worthy of their high 
ealling. It was a notable occasion. The association was assembled 
in annual session. For many months, or ever since hearing of the death 
of the evangelist at Papun, the missionary had been wondering who 
should be sent to take his place. He felt that it ought to be some man 
of ability and character, who could be trusted to take hold of the 
work and earry it forward with vigor and power. But he could think 
of no one who he thought would be available for the important post. 
But to his surprise, when he came up to the meetings, the leaders 
among the Karens said it must be Thrah Kah-nah, the ordained 
pastor of one of the best churches. The missionary had never once 
dared to think of him. He seemed indispensable to his own church; 
he was one of the most beloved of the native pastors, and the mis- 
sionary had no thought that it would be considered possible to dis- 
pense with his services on the home field. But when his name was 
suggested by the Karens themselves, of course the missionary could 
raise no objection. But it was not without a struggle that the appoint- 
ment was made. As soon as his name was mentioned, members of 
Thrah Kah-nah’s church who were present, arose and objected, some 
of them angrily. ‘‘Why should you choose our pastor?’’ they said. 
“The members of our church are for the most part widows and orphans. 
Our pastor is like a father to us. ._We cannot spare him. Choose some 
one else. There are many others. ’’ After they had talked awhile, the 
missionary arose and said, ‘‘I do not wonder that the members of 
Thrah Kah-nah’s church feel this way, for we all love the brother, and 
it is indeed as they say—many of the members of their church are 


widows and orphans. But now before we talk any more about this 
matter, let us go to God with it.’’ Karnest prayer was offered, and 
after the prayer it was truly affecting to see those same men who 
had so angrily demurred a few minutes before, rise and say, that if 
this was of the Lord, they dared not oppose it. A committee was ap- 
pointed to visit the church, and give it what comfort and consolation 
and what strengthening of purpose in the Lord it was able, and Thrah 
Kah-nah was sent forth to do a good and acceptable work. This 
was in the year 1900. 

But at about the same time that the work in the Salween District 
was first being contemplated, the need of doing something to over- 
come the difficulties which were confronting the mission in its own 
home work at Shwegyin was becoming more and more urgent. The 
churches were becoming increasingly restless. The missionary felt 
that the best cure for this condition was an extension movement on 
the home field corresponding to the extension movement which was 
being undertaken on the more distant field. He recalled having heard 
a veteran pastor in America tell how at one time, when his church was 
heavily burdened with debt, he preached a sermon on foreign missions 
and so fervently urged his people to give to that cause that his deacons 
came to him after the sermon, and remonstrated with him, saying, 
‘‘Tyon’t you know, pastor, that we cannot afford to have our people 
give largely for foreign missions, because we have this heavy debt on 
us, and we must use all our powers to raise that?’’ The pastor said 
nothing, but a few Sundays later he preached from the text, ‘‘If I 
forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let 
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if | remember thee not; 
if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.’’ And as he presented 
the needs of the home church, his words were accompanied with such 
power that his people gave as they had never given before, and when 
afterward the sum of their giving was counted up, it was found that, 
behold, the heavy debt which had so long burdened them had vanished 
away. The pastor always attributed the success of that endeavor 
to the previous preaching of the foreign mission sermon, and the open- 
ing of his people’s hearts to the world-wide work. 

And so the missionary believed that the time of undertaking 
work on the distant field was the best time for undertaking work on 
the home field, and as he went about among the churches he sug- 
eested that two out-stations be opened, one at Kyaukkyi (pronounced 
Chouk-jee’), a town of 1,500 or 2,000 inhabitants located about thirty- 
five miles directly north of Shwegyin and the other at Nyaunglebin 


(pronounced N’yaung-lay’-bin), a thriving town on the railroad about 
twelve miles in a straight line west of Shwegyin. This suggestion was 
taken up with the utmost enthusiasm. ‘*‘ Why, yes,’’ the people said, 
‘Gf we can begin work over in the Salween District, of course we can 
do something here at home,’’ and when they came together at the an- 
nual meeting of the association they voted to set aside one thousand 
rupees for the purchase of land at the out-stations, and chose. four 
of their very best men for the work, two for each out-station. From 
that time on the activities of the churches fairly leaped forward. 
Nothing more was heard about moving the main station from Shwegyin 
to Toungoo or to Pegu, and the contributions of the churches for all 
objects showed a most gratifying increase. In 1893 these contribu- 
tions, aside from a special contribution which was being raised for 
the erection of a school and chapel-building at Shwegyin, amounted 
to about 5,000 rupees. The value of the rupee in gold, that is, in, 
ordinary American currency, is about $0.33, but as the average wage 
of the common laborer is less than half a rupee a day, the rupee should 
be reckoned, for purposes of comparison, as equivalent to about $3 or 
$4. On this basis it will be seen that 7,500 rupees coming from fewer 
than 2,000 disciples represented a high degree of lberality among 
the churches. But under the inspiration of the forward movement 
the contributions of the churches for all purposes rose in 1899 to over 
10,000 rupees, in 1900 to over 14,000 rupees, and in 1901 to over 20,000 
rupees, nearly a three-fold increase in three years’ time. In 1902 
the contributions fell off to between 16,000 and 17,000 rupees, but 
the next year they rose to over 36,000 rupees. Meanwhile the annual 
additions to the churehes by baptism rose from about 100 to 175 or 
200, and, apparently because of the new spirit which came upon the 
people, the number of young men who consecrated themselves to the 
work of the gospel ministry and went to the theological seminary at 
Insein for the purpose of preparing themselves for that work, increased 
from three or four in 1893 to eighteen in 1906. At the same time 
schools were built in these out-stations which, without drawing appre- 
clably from the attendance of the Shwegyin station school with its 125 
pupils, gathered in from 200 to 250 pupils, mostly from heathen vil- 
lages, and thus began reaching out with their evangelizing influences 
into the out-lying regions in a way which, so far as one can judge, 
would not otherwise have been possible. And all this was accom- 
plished under God by the unaided efforts of the native Christians 
themselves with only the most general oversight and suggestion on 
the part of the missionary. 


The progress of this forward movement has from the first been 
most inspiring. The work has grown beyond anything that the mis- 
sionary thought or planned. It has been a good deal as he once said 
to the people. Some of the Karen brethren came to him just before 
he returned home on furlough in 1900, and said to him, ‘‘Teacher. 
what are we to do? You put upon the churches the heavy work at 
these three out-stations, and when you get it thoroughly strapped on, 
as you strap down your loads on your pack ponies, so that we eannot 
shake it off, you leave us.’’ ‘* Oh, no,’’ the missionary replied, ‘‘ that 
is not the way to look at it. Why, you ean set a child of six or seven 
years to caring for chickens, but for a buffalo you have to have a lad 
of ten or twelve, and when it comes to an elephant, you have to have 
a full grown man. Now, when we began this work, I did not suppose 
we should have anything more than chickens for several years, but 
it’s a buffalo already, and I must hurry home and have my furlough 
so as to get back here in time for the elephant.’’ 

For many years, in fact as far back as the days of the elder Mr. 
Harris the plan of opening a school or out-station at Kyaukkyi had 
been discussed more or less, and the year before it was actually begun, 
that is, in 1898, the missionary, at the earnest solicitation of one of the 
leading Karen pastors, had stopped at Kyaukkyi on his way home 
from the annual meeting of the association, and looked about for a 
suitable site, but finding nothing that pleased him, returned home. 
That was in February. During the next rainy season disquieting re- 
ports were circulated to the effect that the Roman Catholics had actu- 
ally gone into Kyaukkyi and established themselves there; that they 
had already secured land, had obtained from the government a free 
grant of logs, had hired sawyers to cut up the logs,, and were to pro- 
ceed immediately to put up houses and buildings which a French 
priest was to occupy. When the people of the mission heard this, 
they were not a little disconcerted. The missionary remembers es- 
pecially a prayer- and conference-meeting in the chapel at Shwegyin 
when Teacher Samuel, the headmaster of the school, rose and said he 
could not understand how this came about. ‘‘Here,’’ he said, ‘‘ when 
the elder Mr. Harris was living, he talked about starting an out-station 
at Kyaukkyi, but he left without doing anything about it, and when 
Mr. Smith came, he did the same, and Mr. Miller likewise, and, when 
the present incumbent came, he also talked, but did nothing. But 
while we have been talking and talking and doing nothing, the Roman 
Catholics have come in and usurped the field.’’ But, although the 
headmaster expressed himself thus strongly, the missionary’s con- 


science did not upbraid him, and so he prayed that in some way this 
new embarrassment might be removed. And a little later it was 
learned that, although the Catholie priest had obtained a grant of logs 
from the government, the location of the forest reserve from which he 
was to cut them not proving satisfactory to him, he had with his own 
hand changed the name of the reserve on his permit and cut the logs 
aceordingly, and when the forest officer in charge learned of it, it 
angered him so that he confiscated all the logs and was only with diffi- 
culty dissuaded from bringing a charge of forgery against the man 
and getting him put in jail. Then a little later, when the rains were 
over and the traveling season opened, the wife of the civil officer in 
charge of the sub-division in which Shwegyin was now located, an 
excellent Christian woman whom Mr. Harris had baptized a short time 
before, sent word to the missionary urging him to apply for land with- 
out fail, when he should go up to Kyaukkyi. Mr. Harris replied that 
he understood the Roman Catholics already had land there, and he 
feared there would be no use in his applying, but she informed him 
that they had done nothing in that direction yet. And so, when he 
reached Kyaukkyi soon after on his way to make his annual tour 
among the churches, he stopped to look again for a suitable site. He 
would probably have obtained only a very inferior location had he not 
providentially fallen in with a Burman official who had heard the 
gospel from the lips of Rev. Mr. Hale, and, although he had not pro- 
fessed conversion to Christianity, was very profoundly impressed by it. 
This man took Mr. Harris around, and showed him two or three sites 
which the missionary had not supposed would be at all available, as 
they were in close proximity to Buddhist pagodas and temples, and 
said to him that the citizens of the place would welcome the mission 
workers and that he would give his personal assurance that if any one 
of the sites was applied for, no objection would be raised by the village 
headmen. So Mr. Harris had a piece of ground staked out in a fine 
location somewhat secluded from the town but right on the main high- 
way to the leading pagoda, made a rude map of it, and sent in his 
application to the government at once. The Roman Catholes did 
actually put in an application later, and got a site which was nearly 
as good, put up buildings on it, and sent a French priest to start a 
mission, but his efforts proved to be futile, his mission a complete fail- 
ure, and after a few months he was recalled and his buildings torn 
down. 

The Karen who was put in charge of the Baptist mission at 
Kyaukkyi, Thrah Pah-n’yah-say, was a young man of unusual ability 


e 


and consecration. He was graduated from the theological seminary at 
Insein in the spring of 1893, and later was placed by the committee of 
the association in charge of a little church of about ten members. 
It was partly to give such men as he a sphere of labor commensurate 
with their abilities that Mr. Harris conceived the idea of opening these 
out-stations. This young man did not disappoint expectations. He 
entered into the work with great zeal and enthusiasm. He solicited aid 
among the churches, and soon was able to put up a little building for 
a school. Then he looked about for teachers, and finding several 
who were willing to undertake the work with him, he opened a com- 
mon school of four grades. He succeeded in imparting to those who 
were associated with him something of his own spirit, and soon the 
fame of this little school with its wide-awake, enthusiastic teachers 
spread through the jungles and up into the mountains, until pupils 
began pouring in from long distances, some of them two or three or 
even five days’ journey, to attend it. Best of all, many of these pupils 
were converted, and caught the spirit of the leader, and consecrated 
themselves to the work of the gospel ministry, so that in 1906 eight 
or ten, who but a few years before were sunken in the depths of 
heathen superstition, were studying in the theological seminary at 
Insein. And the work is constantly broadening and deepening. 
Thrah Pah-n’yah-say tells a rather amusing incident of a French 
Catholic priest who had succeeded in establishing himself in a village 
up in the mountains about a day’s journey northeast of Kyaukkyi. 
This priest had been received by the people, probably on the promise 
of his helping them in some case at court—for the Roman Catholic 
priests in Burma have won for themselves a reputation not unlike 
that which they hold in China. The villagers put up a chapel for him, 
and probably professed to become his disciples, at least tentatively. 
Later he returned to Rangoon for his personal effects, but left word 
for the people to meet him at Kyaukkyi on a certain day, when he 
would return. But it seems that for some reason they had tired of him. 
They came to Kyaukkyi on the appointed date, but before going to see 
him they called in on Thrah Pah-n’yah-say, telling him of their dis- 
satisfaction. Thrah Pah-n’yah-say urged them to be frank with the 
man, and tell him plainly, if they did not want him, but they said 
they did not dare talk that way to a white man. That evening after 
the interview with the priest they came again to Thrah Pah-n’yah-say. 
He asked them what they had said. ‘‘We told him,’’ they replied, 
‘that we thought he would better not return to the village.’’ ‘‘ What 
did the priest say to that?’’ ‘‘He asked us why, and we told him that 


we were not all of one mind as at first.’’ ‘‘What did he say to that?”’ 
‘“Oh, he said that he would go anyway.’’ ‘‘ What did you say then?’’ 
‘““We told him that besides our being divided in opinion our chapel 
had blown down.’’ ‘‘ What did he say to that?’’ ‘‘He looked rather 
incredulous, and said he would go up to-morrow and see.’’ ‘‘ Well,’’ 
asked Thrah Pah-n’yah-say, ‘‘ has your chapel really blown down?”’ 
‘Oh, no; it is still standing, as good as ever.’’ ‘* Well, then,’’ 
said Thrah Pah-n’yah-say, ‘‘he will catch you in a lie, and 
white folks do not like people to tell falsehoods.’’ ‘‘Oh, well, we will 
attend to that,’’ replied the villagers. And surely enough they did, 
for early next morning long before light they made off for their vil- 
lage, and when the priest, who started at a more reasonable hour, 
reached the place, the chapel looked as if a tornado had struck it. 
The man gazed on the scene of desolation, and without a word re- 
traced his steps. The Baptist mission now has at that village one of 
its most vigorous churches, and from this church have gone several 
of the young men who are studying for the ministry. 

The work at Nyaunglebin has met with peculiar difficulties, but 
it has been no less inspiring, and has been prosecuted with no less vigor 
on the part of the Karen Christians than has that at Kyaukkyi. 
Through an official Mr. Harris was providentially enabled to secure 
about thirty acres of land in the best available location. This was on 
the 6th of April; 1899. On the next day he turned the land over to 
the Karen brethren who had been chosen to have charge of the work, 
and said to them, ‘‘Brethren, my hands are already full. I can do 
nothing here. But I shall be glad of anything you ean do.’’? The 
Karens were at once up and at it. On the lst of June they had build- 
ings completed, and started a common school with an attendance of 
between 30 and 40 pupils. It was hoped that this school would meet 
the needs of the field for a number of years, but it soon became evi- 
dent that it would not. The English government has two school 
systems, the one including the common schools of the country, and the 
other comprising the schools in which English is taught. Schools be- 
longing to the latter system are under the control of English inspec- 
tors, and the instruction in them is required to be much more thorough- 
going than in the other schools. There were already many good com- 
mon schools in the villages on the plains, and, unlike the people about 
Kyaukkyi, who were largely simple-minded mountaineers, the people 
about Nyaunglebin, coming as they did into frequent contact with a 
more civilized life, wanted their children to attend the better grade of 
schools. So after four or five years of vain effort to bring up the at- 


tendance of the school to a more satisfactory condition, Mr. Harris 
suggested to the committee which had been appointed by the association 
to assist in the oversight of this work, that they erect a larger building, 
and set about in earnest to make the school what it ought to be. He 
had no thought that a building costing more than 3,000 or 4,000 rupees 
would be put up, but the committee got together one time in his ab- 
sence and decided on a much larger plan, and what was his astonish- 
ment, when he next visited Nyaunglebin, to see the foundations laid 
for a great building to cost about 20,000 rupees. Had Mr. Harris 
been consulted, he would not have advised so large an expenditure, 
and later he had some occasion to rue it, as one of the Karens who 
had agreed to bear the brunt of the enterprise financially, got into 
straits, and was unable to meet in full the obligations he had tacitly 
assumed, and so a heavy debt hung over the churches for a year or 
two, like a pall. And yet the Lord’s hand seems to have been in it, 
for not long after the government cast jealous eyes on the broad acres 
of the mission, and contemplated appropriating them for the purpose 
of extending the boundaries of the Nyaunglebin municipality, and 
would undoubtedly have done so but for that great building. 

But the question of changing the character of the school was by 
no means settled by the completion of the new building. The Director 
of Public Instruction was opposed to enrolling the school on the list 
of those which were placed under the supervision of English inspectors. 
The chief objection he raised was the existence of the Roman Catholie 
school of the same grade in the same town. He said there was no 
room for the two schools in such close proximity, and that they would 
necessarily conflict with each other. But, while the Roman Cathohe 
mission at Nyaunglebin was started with the idea of working among 
the Karens, it has met with little success. The Karens of those parts 
are credited with having a saying handed down among the elders for 
many generations which runs somewhat as follows: ‘‘ Children and 
grandchildren, in the last days many different faiths will arise. Be 
not led hither and thither by them. When you find one that does away 
with the whiskey still, that is good enough. Take it.’? Roman Catholi- 
cism does not do away with the whiskey still, and it has met with 
little success in its work about Nyaunglebin. The consequence has 
been that the Roman Catholic school has been obliged to content itself 
for the most part with such pupils of other races as it could get from 
the town itself, where no Karens live. It was certain on the other 
hand that the Baptist mission school would draw its pupils almost 
exclusively from the Karens living in villages of their own scattered 


about over the plains around Nyaunglebin. Thus there would be no 
competition between the two schools. This fact was pointed out, and 
on an appeal being taken to the Lieutenant Governor the recognition 
of the Baptist Mission school at Nyaunglebin as a school of the desired 
character, was ordered. 

Even the governmental recognition of the Nyaunglebin school did 
not solve all the difficulties presented by the work. The Education 
Department requires that teachers in such schools as are here described 
shall have had special normal training, and the demand for qualified 
teachers is so much greater than the supply, that many large and well- 
established schools have great difficulty in keeping themselves supplhed. 
But the Karens were equal to the emergency. When the time came 
for the opening of their little primary school, they had a full corps of 
qualified teachers on hand all of whom could have demanded much 
larger salaries elsewhere, and some of whom would have been eagerly 
sought for by secondary schools and even by high schools, had_ they 
been willing to accept positions in them. And then, when the people 
had done all they could for the cause, by what seems like a direct 
intervention of Divine Providence—which has so often wrought won- 
drously in the history of the Shwegyin mission—Miss M. M. Larsh 
was sent to superintend the work. The school in this latter part of 
the year 1907 has an attendance of 1380 or more pupils, well filling 
the great building which was erected for it, and it is planned to raise 
the standard year by year until it becomes a secondary school of full 
rank, or perhaps even a high school. As there is a large Karen popu- 
lation in the villages around, and the district is one of the most popu- 
lous Karen districts in Burma, there is good reason to expect that 
the attendance will rise in the course of a few years to three or four 
hundred, and the school become one of the strongest of its kind in 
the country. Best of all, it is believed that it will act—indeed it is 
already acting—as a powerful evangelizing agency, reaching out into 
non-Christian communities and exerting an influence which, so far as 
one can judge, would be otherwise impossible. 

It seems fitting to pay here a brief tribute to Thra Maw-koo-loo, 
the Karen preacher who was chosen at the beginning to take charge 
of the work at Nyaunglebin. He was a man of exceptional ability and 
spiritual power. As an expounder of the Scriptures he had few equals 
among his people, and few, perhaps, that would surpass him any- 
where. He was singularly sweet in character. Owing to an error 
of his younger days, he was never ordained, but he bore the stigma 
that was thus placed upon him without complaint. As a quiet and 


unostentatious, yet powerful, leader of the people he was exceptionally 
gifted. He is beleved to have represented all that is best in the dis- 
tinetive piety of the Shwegyin Karens, and he gathered about him 
a coterie of strong men who, coming largely from other parts of Burma, 
experienced under his ministry as it were a new conversion, and con- 
secrated themselves with fresh zeal to the work of God. He has now 
gone to his reward. May many more be raised up to take his place. 

Tt remains now to complete the account of the work at the out- 
station of Papun. As has already been stated, when the Shwegyin 
mission took over the work in the Salween District, there were two 
churches there, one only of which was supporting its pastor, the pastor 
of the other church being supported in part by the Maulmein associ- 
ation and in part by the Burma Baptist Convention. As neither of 
these men was ordained, whenever there were any converts who wished 
to be baptized they had to wait for an ordained man to come up from 
Maulmein, which usually occurred only about once a year. This had 
been a source of no little dissatisfaction on the part of the Salween 
Karens. But when at a great sacrifice to themselves the Shwegyin 
Karens sent over one of their best ordained preachers to take up 
the work of the unordained evangelist who had died—whether from 
gratitude for the generosity of the Shwegyin Karens, or from catching 
something of their spirit of independence is not known, but—almost 
at once the Salween brethren began to show a most commendable zeal. 
To begin with, they offered to support Thrah Kah-nah themselves. and 
asked that more teachers and evangelists should be sent to them. Very 
soon they began to bestir themselves for the erection of a school and 
chapel building at Papun, and it was not long before they had actually 
completed a building of the kind costing about 10,000 rupees. Not 
long after they formed a little association of their own. The leaders 
among them said: ‘‘ We are too far away from either Shwegyin or 
Maulmein for our people to attend the associations on those fields in 
any considerable numbers, and we want our people to learn how to 
carry on the work of the kingdom of God. The best way for them 
to learn is for us to have an association of our own.’’ And go they 
formed an association with officers and committees and a complete 
organization for the carrying on of the work both among the churches 
and among the heathen. And it was not long before this little Salween 
association actually took over from the great Rangoon association its 
missionary operations in the Mainlungyi District of Northern Siam, 
thus making foreign missions at a third remove from the churches 
in America. For several successive years the contributions of this asso- 


ciation with fewer than 100 church members all told aggregated be- 
tween 5,000 and 6,000 rupees annually, and the regular meetings of 
the association are attended with rare interest and enthusiasm, not 
infrequently four or five times as many heathen being present as Chris- 
tians. 

It was at about this time, or, to be more precise, in the spring of 
1903, when the school and chapel building had been completed, that 
the Karen brethren of the Salween District asked Mr. Harris to get 
a missionary lady for them. In reply he asked them what they would 
ever do with a mama (the usual designation of a missionary lady) if 


they had one. ‘‘ You have no place to put her.’’ ‘* Oh, well,’’ they 
said, ‘‘ trust us for that. You get the mama, and we will build a 
house for her.’’ Mr. Harris explained that it was against the policy 


of the missionary societies to establish any new mission stations among 
the Karens, and that, even if this were not the case, available ladies 
for such work were very few. But the Karen brethren would be dis- 
heartened by no objections. They went to work to make ready for a 
mama by putting up a house for her to live in, costing about 4,000 ru- 
pees. It was an act of faith. And their faith did not go unrewarded, 
for in January, 1904, the Lord sent them two mamas, Miss Watson 
and Miss Hawkes, who did a most devoted and loving service among 
them. 

When Mr. Harris took these two ladies over to Papun, he could 
not resist the temptation to jolly the Salween brethren a little. One 
peculiarity of the Karen language is that the distinction between the 
singular and plural numbers is not always nicely observed, so that a 
noun may be used in either the singular or the plural sense without 
a change of form. So Mr. Harris said to the Salween Karens: “‘ It 
must be that you brethren have been altogether too indefinite in your 
prayers. You have said, ‘ O Lord, send us mama, send us mama.’ But 
you were not explicit. You did not say whether you wanted one mama 
or two. And now the Lord has sent you-two. Hereafter you must 
be more careful when you pray, and say, ‘O Lord, send us one mama, 
not two mamas or three, but just one mama.’ Else if you continue 
to pray indefinitely, the Lord may send you a whole host of mamas, 
and you will be simply deluged.’’ 

Thus has been briefly recounted the history of the forward move- 
ment of the Shwegyin Karen Mission. It will be evident even to the 
most casual reader how full of inspiration and encouragement it has 
been, amply justifying the frequently reiterated declaration of Mr. 
Harris, that his work upon the Shwegyin field has been like charioteer- 


ing. He has had no need of whip or lash, for his steeds were already 
of themselves eager for the goal, but with eye intent and every muscle 
at its utmost strain, he has had all he could do simply to direct their 
flying feet along the course. 


PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 


It remains now to mention briefly the needs of the work for the 
future. As to the home field, how long two schools of the same erade 
can be maintained in such close proximity as Shwegyin and Nyaun- 
glebin is uncertain. The burden on the churches for their support 
is heavy. It seems pretty clear that the work at Nyaunglebin should 
be pushed, that a house should be built for Miss Larsh to live in, 
and the school with its large attendance raised, if possible, to a higher 
grade. It is hoped that some way may be found for doing this without 
prejudice to the work of the school at Shwegyin. The school at Kyauk- 
kyi, in spite of its splendid record, has as yet no building well suited 
to its needs. For several years some of the native brethren have had 
the erection of such a building in mind, and it is hoped that it may 
soon be accomplished. It is believed that then the attendance of pupils 
would show a marked increase. On account of the death of Miss Wat- 
son at Papun in October, 1906, Miss Hawkes has been obliged to leave 
the field for a time, but it is hoped that after she takes her next fur. 
lough, which will be perhaps in 1909, she may find some companion 
to go with her to Papun, and forward the work there along all lines. 
These four schools, the one at Shwegyin and those at the three out- 
stations, are proving more and more to be real evangelistic agencies. 
Pupils coming from heathen villages are converted, and return to 
their homes to bear with them the message of salvation. These must 
be followed up, and their efforts reinforced. In the southern part of 
the field beyond Sittang there is an important region which has thus 
far been left almost wholly unevangelized. Mr. N. W. Harris of Chi- 
cago, a nephew of Rev. Norman Harris, who has caught much inspi- 
ration from his unele’s life of unselfish devotion, is supplying funds 
which it is intended to use for the development of this field. Mention 
has already been made of the work being undertaken by the Salween 
association in the Mainlongyi District of Siam. Below will be found 
extracts from a leaflet showing how as long ago as 1880 missionary 
operations were begun in Siam not far from Chiengmai. Three 
churches were founded there at that time or shortly after, and for a 
time missionaries used to make occasional tours into that field for 
the purpose of encouraging and strengthening the churches there, but 


since 1900, when Mr. Harris and Mr. Seagrave undertook a tour in 
that region together, no missionary has visited the field. It is Mr. 
Harris’ earnest desire that, inasmuch as the work in Siam was begun 
by a Shwegyin Karen, and almost the last work of his father, Rev. 
Norman Harris, was to make an appeal for the prosecution of the 
work in those parts, the work in Mainlongyi may prove to be a base 
of operations from which the work in the regions beyond may be more 
adequately prosecuted. The field of the Shwegyin Mission is already 
one of the most important fields in Burma, but if this further work 
should be undertaken, it would mean a vast extension of the field 
with possible developments in the future which can now be scarcely 
surmised. Great wisdom and much physical endurance and strong 
determination will be required to make the work effective, but the mis- 
sionary feels that nothing short of the best and largest results should 
be attempted. Great as has been the work already accomplished, it 
is as nothing compared with what remains to be done. May God grant 
grace and strength and opportunity for the doing of it! 


EXTRACTS FROM A LEAFLET ENTITLED ‘‘ AN OPEN DOOR 
TO THE KARENS OF NORTHERN SIAM,’’ SIGNED 
‘‘J,N. CUSHING,’’ DATED ‘‘ RANGOON, 
NOVEMBER, 1881.’’ 


‘* During the rains of 1880, a Christian Karen trader of Shwegyin, 
Toola by name, had occasion to go to the country a little north of 
Chiengmai for trading purposes. At the village of Mau-pah-eh he 
found himself unexpectedly detained by the eagerness of the people 
to hear the gospel, and, after finishing his business, instead of imme- 
diately returning, he devoted himself for a while to teaching the vil- 
lagers to read. On his return to Shwegyin, and on the strength of his 
representations, Rev. Mr. Harris made an appeal through the ‘Karen 
Morning Star’ to the Christian Karens of Burma, to go over and 
evangelize their brethren. In response to the call of the Burma Baptist 
Missionary Convention for volunteers for this work, last November 
three young men from Bassein applied to be sent as missionaries to 
these Karens of Northern Siam. All of them had received some years 
of training in the Bassein Institute; and two of them had subsequently 
taken a course in the Seminary at Rangoon. The Convention duly 
commissioned them, and gave rupees 500 for their expenses. To this 
Sir Charles Bernard, the present able Chief Commissioner of British 
Burma, added a personal donation of rupees 100. Christian friends 


in Bassein and other places also assisted them on their way. The 
‘Karen Morning Star’ gives a most interesting account of their jour- 
ney and its results. 

‘¢ The journey, going and coming, occupied just four months, from 
December 12, 1880, to April 12, 1881. 

‘Setting out from Tahkrai, the most northeastern of the Maul- 
mein Karen Churches, they proceeded over the hills and mountains, 
leisurely, visiting and preaching in over twenty Karen villages before 
they reached Chiengmai, the chief town of one of the Northern Lao 
States, dependent on Bangkok. The people in three of these villages 
heard the gospel with great joy, and wished the preachers to remain, 
and teach them the way of salvation more perfectly. They could not 
remain, but encouraged them to hope that preachers would afterward 
be sent to them. 

‘< Tn Chiengmai they were most kindly received by the Rev. Messrs. 
McGilvary and Wilson; of the American Presbyterian Mission, and 
entertained for one week. Through their agency, an order was ob- 
tained from the Court permitting them to travel and preach under 
the protection of the Chiengmai officials, and also giving the people 
leave to worship as they pleased, without molestation. 

‘Dr. MeGilvary also went with them to Bahtah, a Karen village 
of fifty houses east of Chiengmai, which he is accustomed to visit 
for the purpose of preaching. The Karens there have listened favor- 
ably in the past; but none have as yet professed Christianity. They 
excused themselves on the ground that they were waiting to hear 
the gospel in their own tongue, and to receive their own books. One 
old Karen, who died two years ago, had begun to worship God, and 
to observe the Sabbath strictly. 

‘¢To Dr. MeGilvary’s surprise, the villagers did not visit himself 
or the Karen preachers as freely as formerly. It appeared afterward 
that a second secret order had been sent to them from the Court, 
that if they received the gospel they would be ‘lost men.’ 

‘From this village the Karen preachers went in a southeasterly 
direction across the hills, three or four days’ march to Muang Lakon, 
the chief town of another principality, also dependent on Bangkok. 
Here they were received most cordially by a Shan disciple, a convert 
of the Presbyterian Mission. The Prince of Lakon gave them a trav- 
eling pass, similar to the one from Chiengmai. Two days north of 
this town they came to three Karen villages—Bahnot, Bahkah, and 
Bahthet; the latter a large village of forty-two houses. 


‘¢ While they were preaching, an elder of the village arose and 
said: ‘I am the youngest of five brothers. My father lived with 
me, and worshipped the living God four times every day. What the 
substance of his worship was, I know not exactly. When he was 
near to death he gave his children and grandchildren these instruc- 
tions: ‘‘ The Book of the Lord God will some time be brought back 
to you. When it comes back, receive it again, I beseech you. After 
the Bible comes back to you, the Lord God Himself will come, and 
then He will reign over all the earth.’’ Again, last night, I dreamed 
that three teachers had come, bringing God’s word. I awoke in 
the morning, and continued watching all day long, but saw no one; 
but now, at sundown, you appear, and you say that you have brought 
God’s word. This agrees with my father’s command, and with my 
dream last night. Therefore, this is verily the word of the Great 
God.’ 

‘“*We therefore preached,’ they wrote in their report, ‘and the 
village elder preached, in such a manner that five hundred people 
in these three villages received the message and believed the gospel 
at once with joy, threw away their ancestral customs, drinking spirits, 
heathenish ornaments, and everything that is inconsistent with a Chris- 
tian profession. They washed their bodies and combed their hair 
every time before coming for worship; they learned from us to sing 
hymns in praise of the Triune God; assembled for worship morning 
and evening; kept the first day sacred, and all day thirsted for the 
worship of God, so that they could not be satisfied. Their minds were 
very bright. In a fortnight they learned to read the catechism a little, 
and could repeat two of our hymns, the 2nd and the 232nd. And 
the elders, men and women, and the chiefs, according to their under- 
standing, preached and exhorted all to be firm. 

““*We told them that in the worship of God we find trials and 
hardships; that it would happen to them as to us in Burma in the 
outset. They replied: ‘‘ We do not fear; we dare to give our necks 
(to be eut off) for the worship of God. We have been dead in the 
service of Satan these many generations. We must stand after death 
before the Judgment Seat. That condemnation we cannot endure. 
If this body perishes, let it perish. If our souls are blessed at God’s 
right hand in heaven, we are happy.’’ They believed in the Son of 
God, Jesus Christ, and that besides His. sufferings on our account 
no one has undertaken to save us. They say that they have been 
often deceived by false prophets and have rejected them; but that 
what they now hear is the true word of God, they have no doubt of it. 


‘©¢When we had been there a fortnight, we said that we must 
return to our country. They all began to weep and wail, and said: 
‘¢Q teachers! If you leave us, how can we worship God?’’ We 
replied that we would go back quickly, and, if possible, return with 
our families before the rains; at longest we would be absent only 
six months. To this they agreed, saying: ‘‘ If you come back with 
your wives and children, that will be more permanent.’’ Then they 
rejoiced; and a representative from each village, six in all, escorted 
us back to Chiengmai. 

‘¢ “When we arrived in Bahtah, on our return; the villagers came 
and listened with greater boldness than before. They wanted to be- 
lieve very much, but still feared the threat of the Shan princes. They 
said: ‘This news is good and true; it agrees with the traditions 
of our ancestors; but you have come so suddenly, and now return 
so suddenly, that we cannot yet trust you. If persecution should 
arise, you would abandon us, perhaps. Come again with your wives 
and children, and we will believe.’’ Then the new believers who es- 
eorted us from Lakon, exhorted them, saying: ‘‘ We have already 
believed, and begun to worship God. There is no occasion to fear 
those who kill the body. Our souls are happy at the feet of God in 


heaven.’ ’’ 


“(They gather from their own observation, and from the testi- 
mony of others, that the Karens in this direction, towards Chiengmai 
and beyond towards China, are very numerous; probably more nu- 
merous than all the Karens in British Burma. * * * Their 
language is nearly identical with that spoken by the Karens of Ran- 
goon and Bassein. It may be corrupted a little by contact with the 
Shan, as the Western Karen is corrupted by Burman words; but in 
the main it is a purer Karen than that spoken farther to the west. 
‘They are not an adulterous or incestuous people; they love each 
other, have good hearts, are a strong and well formed race. They 
get their living by agriculture. They do not move about much from 
place to place. They own many buffaloes and elephants. ’ Although 
they are among Buddhists they have not accepted Buddhism, but con- 
tinue to practice demon worship, and look for the restoration of the 
lost divine book. Some have long professed to worship the eternal 


God.’’ 


“ 


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